NEWS IN ENGLISH – Brazilian farm lobby wrote the text of new Código Florestal

Iolando Lourenço and Ivan Richard Reporters Agência Brasil

Brasília – The Dilma Rousseff administration has a huge majority in the Chamber of Deputies and has been trying hard to pass a new Land Use Law (“Codigo Florestal”) that has been bogged down in Congress for 13 years. The law would correct, at least in part, 500 years of free-for-all land ownership and use (or abuse, as critics would say).

Wednesday night the farm lobby (“bancada rural,” representing agribusiness, landowners and farmers in general) showed that when its interests were at stake it also could drum up a congressional majority. 

The result was that the Chamber of Deputies approved a Codigo Florestal that was not to the liking of the government.

In the final wording of the bill a series of around 20 changes were made to the text that had been approved in the Senate. The bancada rural removed environment protection registration (“Cadastro Ambiental Rural – CAR”) and origin certification of lumber, for example. They made changes to the rules on preservation of springs and rivers, along with so-called areas of permanent preservation (“APPs”) and coastal mangrove swamplands.

The victory was close to overwhelming (the vote was 274 to 184). Deputy Paulo Piau (PMDB-MG), who wrote the final text (who made all the changes the government was unhappy with), admitted that further adjustments would be necessary if there was to be a land use law sanctioned by Dilma Rousseff. [members of the government were quick to point out that 274 votes, although more than enough to pass the bill, were far less than the votes needed to overturn a veto by the president]

“The text is incomplete. We have to improve it. The preservation of areas along rivers is a problem. We need to establish minimum and maximum areas of protection.  Fifteen meters of riverbank for all of Brazil is a lot and will have a negative impact on small farmers,” said Piau.

 “One good thing we did was set up a trigger mechanism that will protect the small farmer,” added Piau, as he pointed out that the bill sets up a grace period of three years for farmers to adjust. “After that period, the federal government, state governments and the farmers and landowners will sit down and discuss adjustments,” concluded Piau.

 “It is not the dream bill that farmers wanted, nor is it what the environmental activists wanted. It was what it was possible to come up with. The text is a pathway down the middle toward what we all want: sustainable production respecting the environment,” said deputy Moreira Mendes (PSD-RO), the president of the Parliamentary Farm Front (“Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária”).

One of the leaders of the opposition to the bill had a completely different opinion. The leader of the Green Party (“PV”), Sarney Filho, called the bill that was approved a step back. “And if this was not a victory for the bancada rural, then why did they fight so hard for this? Piau’s text is terrible and turns the Codigo Florestal into a Frankenstein, a mixture that no one really understands,” said Sarney Filho, adding that he was in favor of a veto by the president.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - Novo Código Florestal precisará de ajustes, avaliam deputados