Senate allows direct sale of ethanol to service stations, and text goes to sanction

Unanimously, senators approved this Wednesday (8) the provisional measure that authorizes the direct commercialization of hydrated fuel ethanol by producers and importers with the reseller post, without the intermediation of distributors, which was previously mandatory. Text goes to sanction.

The Senate accepted all the changes made by the Chamber to the proposal. One of them removed one of the main items from the MP, which allowed the stations to resell fuel from more than one brand.

The possibility of flexibility generated conflicts and confusion in the market. Furthermore, critics claimed that it would lead consumers to be deceived.

“The flexibilization discussed, tending to favor the dealer station by promoting the break with restrictive practices to the free market, would not serve, however, as an argument to confront contracts between retail dealers and fuel distributors, which include clauses of this nature”, said the rapporteur, senator Otto Alencar (PSD-BA).

As an alternative, authorization for retail resale of gasoline and hydrated ethanol outside the authorized establishment was included, limited to the municipality where it is located. For this, regulation by the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) will be necessary.

The final version also included the forecast that it will not be necessary for the company to demonstrate links with other agents in the biofuels industry in order to obtain authorization for the purchase and sale of ethanol.

Elsewhere, the law that establishes crimes against the economic order was changed so that the crime of using liquefied petroleum gas is restricted to use only for automotive purposes. Currently, the use in engines of any kind, saunas, boilers and pool heating, or for automotive purposes is prohibited.

To avoid loss of revenue, the text makes changes in the legislation that deals with the contribution to the PIS/Pasep and to Cofins (Contribution for the Financing of Social Security).

The measure seeks to ensure that the tax burden of social contributions levied on the ethanol chain will be the same both in the case of direct sales by the producer or importer to the retailer and in the one intermediated by a distributor.

The lawmakers removed, however, an excerpt that forbade the exemptions from the base for calculating the contribution to PIS/Pasep and Cofins that currently exist for cooperatives.

The government edited the MP with the intention of trying to increase competition in the fuel market. The bet was that the price of gasoline would be reduced by up to R$0.50 per liter, as a result of increased competition.

The promise of gains from the changes is questioned by the fuel market and potential damages to the consumer were the subject of a challenge by the Procons in a public consultation by the ANP to debate the changes.

Distributors and the defense of competition are specifically concerned with the possibility of selling fuel from other brands at service stations. For consumer protection agencies, the measure violates legal provisions that guarantee the right to clear, precise and adequate information.