Gaucho federal deputy Heitor Schuch (PSB) forwarded two important guidelines for the dairy industry to Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services. The requests were made after a meeting with representatives of the Rio Grande do Sul Dairy Industry Union (Sindilat/RS).
The guidelines deal with the need to review the reduction from 14% to 4% in the import rate of Protein Supplement based on Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC 80) and Whey Protein Isolate (WPI), both concentrated whey proteins, for acquisitions from countries outside Mercosur. In addition, the guidelines address the damage caused to producers and mainly to the powdered milk and cheese industries, in the face of in-kind subsidies granted in the milk chain in Argentina and Uruguay.
“The demands are very fair and are already in Minister Alckmin’s hands. I believe there is a path to quick and definitive solutions. In my opinion, the past government was wrong to reduce the Whey rate, as it makes domestic production unfeasible, which loses market to imported products. I asked the minister to revoke the measure and save Brazilian industry. The decrees of the Argentine and Uruguayan governments are pure protectionism for the local producer, but they liquidate the dairy sector in Brazil”, highlights Heitor Schuch when indicating that he will also take the guidelines to the Industry and Commerce Commission of the Chamber, of which he is president .
Cláudio Hausen de Souza, Commercial and Marketing director at Sooro Renner Nutrição S/A, a company with plants in the cities of Marechal Cândido Rondon (PR) and Estação (RS), points out that the industrial sector detected in the Whey market that favoring the purchase of the input in the foreign market has grown, causing losses for the Brazilian industry. “This tax reduction is causing large volumes of these ingredients to be imported, at very low prices, compared to 2022. The damage is clear to national companies, dedicated to the production of these and other dairy items”, he says.
Small cheese dairies have also been negatively impacted, since a large part of what whey is absorbed by the Brazilian industry is supplied by these plants. “Furthermore, the price of this raw material has already dropped on the domestic market, further aggravating the negative effects of the tax exemption”, adds the executive secretary of the Sindilat/RS, Darlan Palharini.
By also reinforcing at the meeting, which took place on Tuesday (04/04), the need for the adoption of public policies by the federal government that safeguard the dairy sector against the subsidies that have been granted in Argentina and Uruguay, Palharini pointed out that the neighboring governments set precedents against the rules of Mercosur and the World Trade Organization (OMC) when establishing their aid policies, provoking the urgency of a response from Brazil in order to curb the advance of the entry of derivatives in the national market. “We need to find a way to equalize this scenario. We have noticed, in 2023, a very large increase in imports, mainly of powdered milk and Parmesan cheese, which arrive from these countries with cheaper prices than those produced in Brazil. There is inequality and it is mainly affecting producers in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná”, warns Palharini.
Gaucho federal deputy Heitor Schuch (PSB) forwarded two important guidelines for the dairy industry to Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services. The requests were made after a meeting with representatives of the Rio Grande do Sul Dairy Industry Union (Sindilat/RS).
The guidelines deal with the need to review the reduction from 14% to 4% in the import rate of Protein Supplement based on Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC 80) and Whey Protein Isolate (WPI), both concentrated whey proteins, for acquisitions from countries outside Mercosur. In addition, the guidelines address the damage caused to producers and mainly to the powdered milk and cheese industries, in the face of in-kind subsidies granted in the milk chain in Argentina and Uruguay.
“The demands are very fair and are already in Minister Alckmin’s hands. I believe there is a path to quick and definitive solutions. In my opinion, the past government was wrong to reduce the Whey rate, as it makes domestic production unfeasible, which loses market to imported products. I asked the minister to revoke the measure and save Brazilian industry. The decrees of the Argentine and Uruguayan governments are pure protectionism for the local producer, but they liquidate the dairy sector in Brazil”, highlights Heitor Schuch when indicating that he will also take the guidelines to the Industry and Commerce Commission of the Chamber, of which he is president .
Cláudio Hausen de Souza, Commercial and Marketing director at Sooro Renner Nutrição S/A, a company with plants in the cities of Marechal Cândido Rondon (PR) and Estação (RS), points out that the industrial sector detected in the Whey market that favoring the purchase of the input in the foreign market has grown, causing losses for the Brazilian industry. “This tax reduction is causing large volumes of these ingredients to be imported, at very low prices, compared to 2022. The damage is clear to national companies, dedicated to the production of these and other dairy items”, he says.
Small cheese dairies have also been negatively impacted, since a large part of what whey is absorbed by the Brazilian industry is supplied by these plants. “Furthermore, the price of this raw material has already dropped on the domestic market, further aggravating the negative effects of the tax exemption”, adds the executive secretary of the Sindilat/RS, Darlan Palharini.
By also reinforcing at the meeting, which took place on Tuesday (04/04), the need for the adoption of public policies by the federal government that safeguard the dairy sector against the subsidies that have been granted in Argentina and Uruguay, Palharini pointed out that the neighboring governments set precedents against the rules of Mercosur and the World Trade Organization (OMC) when establishing their aid policies, provoking the urgency of a response from Brazil in order to curb the advance of the entry of derivatives in the national market. “We need to find a way to equalize this scenario. We have noticed, in 2023, a very large increase in imports, mainly of powdered milk and Parmesan cheese, which arrive from these countries with cheaper prices than those produced in Brazil. There is inequality and it is mainly affecting producers in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná”, warns Palharini.
