Anffa Sindical sues against new rule from the Ministry of Agriculture

The National Union of Federal Agricultural Tax Auditors (Anffa Sindical) decided to take legal action against the new Ordinance No. 667/2024, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), published today and which establishes new deadlines for international certifications for the export of products of animal origin and provides for “tacit authorization” in the case of animal feed products.

Last Tuesday, Mapa had published Ordinance No. 666/2024, which reduced the deadlines for issuing certificates from 15 to five days for products intended for animal feed and from 5 to 4 days for products of animal origin. This Thursday, the new document revokes the previous ordinance and reduces the maximum time for cargoes of animal products intended for export to be inspected by agricultural auditors to two days. According to the union, the conditions are unfeasible, “since the career suffers from a staffing deficit of around 1,6 auditors”.

In 2023, the average period for issuing a transit document for products of animal origin was 3,49 days, according to data extracted from the Management Information System of the Federal Inspection Service (SIF). “Therefore, the reduction to 2 days could collapse the inspection system, harm exports and above all reduce the time of auditors used to ensure food destined for Brazilians”, highlighted the union’s note.

For Anffa Sindical, the new ordinance removes the tacit approval for products of animal origin contained in the previous ordinance, although it maintains it for products intended for animal feed. The setback is due to the union's complaint, which alerted Mapa to the breach of bilateral and multilateral agreements signed by Brazil with export markets, if exports occurred without the approval of the federal agricultural tax auditor. However, Anffa Sindical warns that “tacit authorizations” for products intended for animal feed go beyond the requirements set out in Decree No. 10.178/2019.

Anffa Sindical warns of the impossibility of meeting the new established deadlines, far below the historical average deadlines, in addition to the fragility of tacit authorization for products intended for animal feed in light of commercial agreements.

By being forced to prioritize the certification of exports, the federal agricultural tax auditor will have compromised the time allocated to preserving the safety and quality of products destined for the Brazilian consumer. Therefore, “it is inconceivable to speed up exports to the detriment of the safety of the food consumed by Brazilians”, concludes the statement.

Lawsuit

Federal agricultural tax auditors have been negotiating with the government for better working conditions since last year and, therefore, have been mobilizing since January 22nd of this year. The movement, which is not characterized as a strike, calls for career restructuring, but so far has not received a reasonable proposal to meet the demand.