Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Industrialists Ask for Reform of Environmental Laws

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SAO PAULO, Jun 23 2007 (IPS) - The National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Brazil's leading business association, will press the government to change environmental legislation and to speed up issuance of environmental permits. “The Brazilian regulatory framework is great on paper, but not in practice. The legislation is very complex and ends up creating legal uncertainties. This delays projects and, in some cases, makes them unfeasible,” Maurício Mendonça, head of CNI's environmental council, told Tierramérica.

The main complaint of the industrialists is the delay in obtaining environmental permits. The authorization requirement “is an achievement of society. But because of the bureaucracy and legal complexity, it has turned into an obstacle in the country's development,” said Mendonça.

The business sector established for the first time a single arena for environmental claims at the first Brazilian Industrial Conference for the Environment, held Jun. 13-15 in Sao Paulo, Mendonça added.