Agreement 100 and Decree 10139/2019 on the agenda at the first meeting of the Agricultural Inputs Thematic Chamber

The extensive agenda, which had the support of some invited experts, included issues that today threaten Brazilian competitiveness or hinder rural production. Among the topics in question, the excess of normative instructions and ordinances that are no longer applicable, but still active, in the Ministry of Agriculture, which are the subject of Decree 10139/2019. In addition to this, the possibility of extinguishing Agreement 100/97, which grants a 60% reduction in the ICMS calculation base for chemical pesticides on interstate exits and also on internal operations involving the products.

 According to the president of the Chamber of Inputs, vice-president of the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), Júlio Cézar Busato, it is estimated that, currently, there are around 110 thousand normative instructions and ordinances in force in Mapa. “Many of these are no longer useful. They do not apply in the current context, but they interfere with our work. What we are suggesting to Mapa is a review of this content, which also applies to other bodies, such as the Ministry of the Environment and Ibama”, says Busato, who also presides over the Bahian Association of Cotton Producers (Abapa). To speak on the topic, the Attorney General of the Union (AGU), César Kirsch, and the technical superintendent of the Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA), Bruno B. Lucchi, were invited.

 Costs may rise

 Increased food costs for the end consumer and reduced profitability for rural producers are some of the risks that will come with a possible extinction of Agreement 100. In the case of cotton farmers, the loss of profitability would be around 11%. For some crops, such as rice, the end of the exemption could result in the activity becoming completely unviable. The threat was also debated in the Inputs Chamber. Busato points out that cotton producers will feel these effects strongly, but not only them.

“Except in very rare cases, it is impossible to do agriculture in Brazil without pesticides. Ending the exemption is shooting ourselves in the foot, as Brazilian agricultural production has taken a leap in the last 35 years, precisely because it began to have access to technologies to combat pests and diseases, boosted by Agreement 100. States that are today strong in the Brazilian agribusiness only developed after this measure. By trying to end the benefit, these states, instead of collecting more, will suffer great losses and losses”, argues Júlio Busato.

The vice-president of Abrapa emphasizes that, unlike other sectors, such as industry and commerce, farmers who export cannot pass on these cost increases to their customers, as the price is not formed by them, but by the market. . “It is unthinkable to export taxes”, he contests.