News

30/03/23

The special secretary of the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil, Robinson Sakiyama Barreirinhas, published in the Official Gazette, on March 29, normative instruction No. Financial Asset) intended for the registration of operations with gold, financial assets or foreign exchange instruments”. The practice goes into effect on July 3 next.

The Brazilian Mining Institute (IBRAM), representing the business sector, joined forces with other organizations, such as the Escolhas Institute, to articulate with the Central Bank, the Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Police, among others, a series of more effective actions against the criminal chain arising from illegal gold mining. One of the points of debate was precisely the creation of electronic invoices for the sale of gold. This is because the transactions of this ore can be “registered” through declarations in the hand of those who sell gold – even without proven legal origin –, considered tax documents by legislation.

“This is a very important advance to avoid financial support for illegal gold mining activities in regions such as the Amazon. This illegal practice of extracting ore is at the base of a series of criminal actions against people, the environment and the country’s economy. The mineral sector also suffers from unfair competition from illegal mining, but the biggest reason to celebrate this decision by the Federal Revenue Service and the Ministry of Finance is precisely to recognize that the government is willing to put an end to the criminal chain that we denounce”, says Raul Jungmann, CEO of IBRAM.

Jungmann says there is more to do. Eradicating illegal mining requires, in addition to repressing and expelling individuals and organizations involved in this criminal practice, preventing access to the internal and external gold markets; make intermediaries and buyers criminally responsible; implement effective systems for tracking and certifying the origin of ore; change legislation and taxation related to gold in the country; to develop sustainable and perennial economic activities in the Amazon region to generate jobs and income for the population, in order to take them out of the “illegal gold rush”.