The federal government responded to a demand from cocoa producers and issued a provisional measure on Thursday (12) that reduces the drawback period for the activity from two years to just six months. The tax benefit that was changed allows the suspension of taxes on imported inputs when intended for the production of goods for export.
Although the MP aims to bring economic, social and environmental benefits to cocoa activity, especially in the producing regions of Pará and Bahia, cocoa processors have warned of possible billion-dollar losses with the change in drawback.
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The Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, however, said that the measure is “good news” for cocoa producers. “Before, mills could store imported cocoa for two years. Now, this period will be reduced to six months, which should encourage the purchase of cocoa produced in Brazil and generate more jobs and income for our producers”, he stated.
The federal government highlighted that, as a result of the instability observed in the production chain, national production and jobs in the sector could be compromised.
But the National Association of the Cocoa Processing Industry (AIPC) released a study pointing to the risk of a loss of up to R$3.5 billion in exports of cocoa derivatives over the next five years. The entity also estimates that the measure puts 5,000 jobs at risk.
The opposite argument is that reducing the deadline to six months will create a mismatch between the industrial and commercial cycle of the activity. The AIPC details that the production of derivatives involves the importation of almonds, industrial processing and the fulfillment of international contracts often signed several months in advance.
