A provisional measure (MP) declared by the president this week allows ethanol makers to sell the fuel directly to gas stations, making fuel distributors no longer needed. The provisional measure is valid for 60 days and may be extended once. It changes the Petroleum Law and needs to be sanctioned by the Congress to become permanent. According to the government, the decision “provides greater logistical efficiency, as well as benefits to consumers, and greater competitiveness for the sector”. The government also states that, in order not to waive revenue, the rates applicable to the direct sale of ethanol will come from the sum of the rates currently provided for the producer (or importer) with those that would apply to the distributor. The MP also eradicates the tax exemption on the sale of imported anhydrous alcohol added to gasoline by the distributor (importer). This move is intended to balance the tax incidence between the national product and the imported product.
Source: Canal Rural (*Translated by Ia Niani)