Panel SA: Project may impose rules similar to those adopted for lobbyists on company executives

Executives from private companies who meet with public officials to discuss business may be subject to the same transparency requirements that the federal government intends to impose on professional lobbyists, according to the latest version of a bill under discussion in the Executive.

The proposal, which seeks to regulate lobbying activity in the country, foresees that the hearings are publicly registered, with identification of the participants and the subjects dealt with.

The project should also include a caveat for casual contacts between authorities and representatives of the private sector at social events. The idea is that meetings in which there is no discussion of the companies’ interests will not need to be disclosed like the audiences.

Offices working in the area of ​​government relations defend the imposition of a quarantine for former occupants of public office who wish to exercise the activity. Today, former parliamentarians are not subject to the quarantine that former executive officers must comply with after leaving office.

There are more than a dozen bills to regulate lobbying activity in Congress. The government has promised to present its proposal since last year. People following the discussion say it should be sent to the legislature soon.

with Ricardo Balthazar (interim), Andressa Motter e Ana Paula Branco