Brazilian incentives to boost footwear industry

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is supporting plans to defend the country’s manufacturing industries.

The Brazilian government has announced a series of incentives called ‘Bigger Brazil’ (‘Brasil Maior’). These are designed to assist local manufacturing sectors – including footwear, textiles and clothing – which have been adversely affected by the appreciation of the national currency as well as international competition.

Reported measures include tax cuts and exemptions for the footwear and clothing sectors, with exporters also in line for tax credits of 0.5 per cent of the value of their international sales. These benefits will be offset in part by an additional tax (varying between sectors), of at least 1.5 per cent on sales. Procurement by the Brazilian government will favour domestically manufactured products, with a 25 per cent premium paid for locally produced goods.

“With the launch of ‘Brasil Maior’, we are starting a campaign in defence of Brazilian industry against the often-unfair competition in the international marketplace,” said the nation’s President, Dilma Rousseff. “Our proposals are designed to increase production and employment in the country.”

Tougher quality controls on imported goods have been announced, and the introduction of a number of measures, including anti-dumping duties, is to be accelerated. The aim of this strategy is to cut anti-dumping investigations from 15 to 10 months, and provisional duty applications from 240 to 120 days. There will also be more stringent customs inspections and fines for falsifying shipping documents and smuggling goods.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 2 of the October 2011 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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