The illegal market discourages investments, pointed out Edson Vismona, from the FNCP – National Forum against Piracy, Leandro Mandu, from Bosch and Paulo Campante, from CropLife, speakers of the panel “The illegal market and the risk of local divestment”, on the first day of ABPI’s 40th Congress. The Panel 1 debate was moderated by ABPI director Rodrigo Ouro Preto.
According to the last FNCP survey, in 2018 the illegal market in Brazil reached the figure of R$ 291,440,218,480.00 and tends to increase. Vismona, president of the FNCP, recalled that illegal trade, piracy, and counterfeiting of products are among the main global risks pointed out by the World Economic Forum. He considers that the punishment for offenders is mild and defends the approval of PL 333/1999, which increases the penalties for the crimes of improper use of trademarks and patents, geographical indications, and unfair competition, and has been in the plenary of the House of Representatives for more than two decades. “Recently, at my request, the president of the House of Representatives put the project to a vote, but it was blocked”, he explained.
In his presentation, Campante demonstrated that, in Brazil, genetically modified seeds have two legal and simultaneous protection instruments, one referring to the genotype, by the Cultivars Law (Law 9,456/97) and the other, related to germplasm developed by companies, through patenting. According to him, the cultivar legislation in its Article 10 provides for cases of exception for protection, which allows the planter to save the seed, produce and plant it. “The problem is that many companies use this safeguard to produce and sell on the parallel market, not paying royalties for the research”, he said.
For the representative of CropfLife, there is the mistaken idea that Brazil is too big and companies will stay in the country with or without protection. “It is a complete fallacy. In fact, if we do not have an environment of legal certainty and intellectual property is not respected, we will move towards a total divestment of the seed industry”.
Bosch’s Mandu explained that the auto parts sector in Brazil accounts for R$ 151 billion in sales, 14% of this total referring to spare parts. Brazil has a fleet of 46 million vehicles, a segment where piracy thrives. “We need broader actions to inhibit this type of crime”, said Mandu.
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https://congresso.abpi.org.br/dia-19-painel-1-o-mercado-ilegal-e-o-risco-de-desinvestimento-local/
