Economy wants to facilitate the sale of coastal land in the Union at half price

The Ministry of Economy prepares a proposal to automate the demarcation of marine lands, located on the coast and on the banks of rivers and lakes, and facilitate the sale of areas to current occupants, with a 50% discount on the market value of the property.

The measure is an attempt to circumvent a PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) approved by jet in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies at the end of February and which provided for a forced privatization of these lands, especially on the Brazilian coast. The text, criticized by technicians and environmentalists, also opened up gaps for land grabbing.

The PEC vote, defended by the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), took place in the same context of the articulations to approve the release of gambling. Defenders of the initiatives hoped to boost this activity, especially in casinos or resorts on the Brazilian coast.

For this, they considered it necessary to approve the PEC to guarantee the right of ownership over land on the Brazilian coast to hotels and other enterprises, ending disputes and legal disputes. The proposal is now being processed by the Federal Senate.

The Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) is a defender of the privatization of public areas on the country’s beaches to encourage investment by hotel groups and the receipt of international cruises. Internally, there is talk that it is possible to build different Cancuns — a Mexican destination famous for its resorts.

However, the assessment is that the approval of the PEC is not only dispensable, but would also end up aggravating legal uncertainty. Companies like Vale, which operate private port terminals, would be forced to pay billions to buy the areas.

In an attempt to bury the PEC for good, the proposal being discussed in the government is to edit an MP (provisional measure) or send a bill simplifying the rules, without imposing any obligation on current users. The purchase would be made by those who are interested in the transaction.

The new idea, however, continues to face criticism from parliamentarians linked to the environmental agenda. Deputy Rodrigo Agostinho (PSB-SP), who was against the PEC for considering it a threat to environmentally sensitive areas, says that automation could end up regulating “many invasions of public lands”, privatizing beaches and causing conflicts. He says he is critical of the new proposal.

Marine lands are located on the coast, in a strip of about 30 meters from the high tide line or on the banks of rivers and lakes that are influenced by the tides. They are owned by the Union, and their occupants pay fees to the federal government for the use of the property.

Today, according to the government, users can already acquire land, but the process is slow. The demarcation is done manually, and there is no standardization around the reference value for the sale of the property by the Union.

The proposal being drafted in Economics authorizes the government to use electronic tools that allow instant demarcation. The special secretary for Privatization, Divestment and Markets, Diogo Mac Cord, tells Sheet that it is possible to simplify the demarcation with the use of algorithms and geological surveys that allow tracing the strip that delimits the marine lands.

“I understand the problem. It’s a callus that needs to be healed, the lack of property rights,” says Mac Cord.

Despite criticism of the PEC, he admits that Congress managed to “put the goat in the room” and bring the issue to the center of the debate. “The problem is the speed of demarcation and the assessment of the value of the property”, says the secretary.

Instead of hiring an appraisal service, which could be costly and time-consuming, the government’s proposal is to use the market value of the property as a reference. This is the price of the asset estimated by the municipality and which serves as a basis for calculating taxes, such as IPTU (Imposto Predial e Territorial Urbano).

Asked about the risk of lag in these estimates – and consequently under-invoiced sales –, Mac Cord says that city halls have no interest in keeping market values ​​out of date, as this harms municipal revenue. In addition, 20% of the sale value would go to the municipality where the marine land is located.

The proposal also provides for a 50% discount on the market value in the sale made to occupants of the federal area “regularly registered and compliant”, according to the text. The discount is greater than the 25% currently practiced.

The facilitating rules would be valid for two years from the publication of the law or from the date of demarcation of the land. Current regular occupants of the areas, already registered by the government, could also access these conditions.

The text is still under internal discussion in the government, between the Ministry of Economy, the Civil House and the Secretariat of Government. There is no deadline for the project or PM to be presented.

In parallel, the government has been talking with the senators to prevent the PEC from advancing in the House.

as showed the Sheetthe PEC maintains areas used by the federal public service, federal environmental units and unoccupied land under the Union’s domain, but authorizes the transfer to states, municipalities or owners and users of these areas already registered with the SPU (Union Heritage Secretariat).

In one of the most risky articles, in the opinion of the technicians, the PEC would also allow the sale to those who are not registered, but who have occupied the place at least five years before the publication of the constitutional amendment -which opens up gaps for land grabbing, when there are irregular occupation of public lands through the use of false deeds.

Another problem with the PEC is the onerous assignment of these areas by the Union, that is, their occupants will be forced to buy the land.

The measure is considered problematic, as it involves a period of up to two years for the purchase to be completed by the occupants, with the exception of areas occupied with a social function -fishermen villages, quilombola communities, for example-, states, municipalities and concessionaires, cases where the transfer would be free.

In addition to imposing costs on the private occupants of the areas, the PEC does not provide any forecast in the event that payment is not made during this period. In practice, they could allege that the Union missed the deadline for charging.

In this case, the technicians claim that it would be the “biggest transfer of income in history”, since the value of the areas involved could reach R$ 1 trillion. Beneficiaries tend to be high-income people who occupy land by the sea.

Understand

Economy wants to facilitate sale of marine land

• Where are they? On the coast, in a strip of about 30 meters from the high tide line or on the banks of rivers and lakes that are influenced by the tides. They are owned by the Union, and their occupants pay fees to the federal government.
• What is the proposal? Facilitate the sale of areas to current occupants, with a 50% discount on the market value of the property
• Per what? The measure is an attempt by the economic area to empty the PEC pending in Congress, which provides for a forced privatization of these lands, also opening a gap for land grabbing and legal uncertainty.
• How it is today? Users can already acquire land, but the process is slow. The demarcation is done manually, and there is no standardization around the reference value for the sale of the property
• How would you? Government would use electronic tools that allow instant demarcation. Instead of hiring an appraisal service, the market value of the property would be considered as a reference
• When can it come out paper? There is no deadline. The text is still under internal discussion in the government, between the Economy, Civil House and the Secretary of Government.