Government of MG determines taxation of all imports of powdered milk in the State

The government of Minas Gerais published in the Official Gazette this Thursday (28/3) a decree that determines that all imports of powdered milk will be taxed in the State. The document establishes that the benefit granted to taxpayers holding a Special Regime is suspended. According to the government, the objective of the decision is to balance the market and guarantee competitiveness for milk producers in Minas Gerais.

In practice, the decree, valid for 90 days, establishes that, when importing powdered milk, the rate increases from 0% to 12%. For the sale of this fractionated powdered milk, the rate increases from 2% to 18%.

For the government of Minas, small and micro rural producers are being harmed by exemptions granted by other Mercosur countries, which would be destabilizing fair competition.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), in 2023, powdered milk was the main dairy product imported by the country, reaching the equivalent of 2.8 billion liters of milk, with 46% coming from Argentina and 45% from Uruguay. The countries, members of Mercosur, are exempt from the Common External Tariff (TEC).

Minas Screams for Milk

Recently, Minas Gerais producers mobilized in the “Minas Grita pelo Leite” campaign, which gives visibility to the crisis faced by the sector. On March 18, around 7 thousand producers met at Expominas, in Belo Horizonte, to demand incentives for the segment.

After the event, the Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Paulo Teixeira, announced that the debts of milk producers will be renegotiated.

Currently, Minas is the largest milk producer in the country, with 9.5 billion liters, around 27% of national production. But according to the Minas Gerais government, several producers are leaving the activity due to unfair market competition with the insertion of imported products into the national market, which has led to a drop in the price of milk paid to producers. In January of this year, the amount paid was R$2.11, 15.9% lower than in the same period in 2023.

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