Taxation on native seeds could compromise the goals of environmental restoration in Brazil

Technical Note details the current rates and suggests tax flexibility

The restoration of the ecosystems in Brazil, which has the objective to recover 12 million hectares by 2030, depends heavily on the production of native seeds from the regions. However, the high tax burden on this activity represents a significant obstacle for the production chain. This reality was pointed out in the Technical Note “Taxation of the production chain of native seeds for the restoration of ecosystems in Brazil”, prepared by Redário, ISA – Instituto Socioambiental -, and the Rede de Sementes do Cerrado, with the support of iCS.

The document suggests that the current tax situation favors agriculture and livestock farming, and details how taxes fall upon the production and selling of native seeds, which makes the market less accessible and, with this, makes it difficult to comply with the environmental goals of the country. It shows that excessive taxation can make the sustainable development of the activity unfeasible, especially for the networks and community groups with less purchasing power, such as the indigenous peoples and family farmers, who are the main producers of native seeds in the country.

Legal commitments and public policies aimed at the restoration, such as the Pact for the Ecological Transformation, signed in August of this year, which has the objective to encourage economic and cultural changes for the sustainable development, and promote the review of the National Plan for the Recovery of the Native Vegetation (Planaveg 2025-2028), are being signed. However, if the current deadlines of these policies are maintained, the transformations in the sector would only come into effect in 2033, after the end of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the main national deadlines of the restoration goals.

In order to change this scenario, the technical note suggests certain actions. The main one is tax relief, with the flexibility of the current fiscal rules, and tax exemption for the sector. Another recommendation is an effective coordination between federal, state and municipal governments. These recommendations can help in the promotion of sustainable practices, which value and respect the native ecosystems and ancestral knowledge, generating income and autonomy for the communities and contributing to the conservation of the natural resources and the cultural diversity of the country.

Baru seed, a nut that is native to the Cerrado. Credit: Liliane Farias/Agência Brasil