With a veto on the amnesty of fines, the freight table law is sanctioned

nila44

President Michel Temer sanctioned the conversion into law of the provisional measure that set the price of road freight in Brazil. Law 13,703/18, published this Thursday (9/8), in the Official Gazette of the Union. The president also vetoed the paragraph that provided for amnesty for judicial fines applied during the "truck drivers' strike", which lasted 11 days in May .


The provisional measure now converted into law was a concession from the federal government to the wall movement. When they went on strike, transport companies complained that the price of freight in Brazil "fell too much", which also reduced the remuneration for their services.

The text does not set values, but creates rules for the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) to define the floor, considering factors such as the costs of diesel oil, tolls and specificities of the loads.

The law establishes that ANTT must B2B Lead publish twice a year, until January 20th and July 20th, a standard with the minimum levels referring to the kilometer driven per loaded axle, the distances and the specificities of the loads. The first table was published by ANTT in May.

According to the text, whenever the price of diesel oil fluctuates by more than 10% in the national market, in relation to the price considered in the calculation spreadsheet, a new standard with minimum floors must be published by ANTT. The standard will be valid for the semester in which it is published.

The text also specifies that the fixing of the floors must involve the participation of the parties involved, such as representatives of freight contractors and transport company unions. Any agreement or convention that results in payment less than the established minimum price is also prohibited.

The expected punishment for those who do not follow the table from July 20th of this year is the payment of compensation to the transporter in an amount equivalent to twice the difference between the amount paid and what would be due. Compensation resulting from infractions occurring between May 30, 2018 and July 19, 2018 will be amnestied.



For lawyer José Del Chiaro, a specialist in competition defense, the measure is a setback . For him, the price will not be cheap and consumers will bear the loss. Furthermore, he sees the movement as an invitation to cartelize the market.

Unconstitutional amnesty
The president justified that the amnesty for sanctions is unconstitutional. According to Temer, "the application of the fines provided for in the Brazilian Traffic Code were imposed by a precautionary judicial decision in provisional protection and as a function of the State's police power."

Therefore, he considers that it would constitute "reflexive fiscal interference between the Powers, the proposal should be accompanied by its budgetary and financial impact as a validity requirement".