Desenrola Rural: program advances in the Senate

Brazilian family farmers and small rural producers will be able to have their debts renegotiated, as established in the bill (PL 2.691/2024) that creates the National Credit Recovery Program for Small Farmers. The proposal was initiated by Senator Mecias de Jesus (Republicanos-RR) and received a favorable opinion from Senator Alan Rick (União-AC), with amendments, in the Agriculture Committee (CRA). Now, the matter goes to the Economic Affairs Committee (CAE).

According to the project, the objective of the initiative is to recover the production capacity of families in family farming and small rural properties. According to the text, the debt renegotiation program for family farmers and small rural producers will last for three years – counting from the date of publication of the law.

According to the proposal, discounts will be up to 95%. Furthermore, it is expected that a regulation will define the prioritization of debt installments extended during years of climate disasters and market problems.

Desenrola Rural will be able to participate in the Desenrola Rural program as debtors, family farmers and rural family entrepreneurs, as well as farmers with small properties who are in default and whose rural credit operations have been contracted by the date of publication of the future law.

As justification, author Mecias de Jesus (Republicanos-RR) highlights the importance of the sector for the country’s food security, job creation, population settlement in the countryside and regional development. He highlights that adversities have befallen family farmers, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, which, according to him, disrupted several production chains resulting in losses that would be difficult to recover.

“The renegotiation of debts will allow them to restructure their financial liabilities, relieving immediate pressure and providing necessary relief so that they can return to investing in the field and in the processing of their products”, stated the senator in the justification.

How it should work

The project determines that the Ministry of Finance creates, within 180 days of publication of the future law, a Central Debt Consolidation Center for Small Farmers. The aim is to aggregate information on various types of small farmers’ liabilities in a consolidated electronic environment with a view to facilitating renegotiation.

According to the proposal, the operating costs of the new center will be covered by fees to be charged to financial institutions participating in Desenrola Rural. In addition, financial institutions created by law or authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil that have authorization to carry out rural credit operations may participate in the program as financial agents.

Such institutions may generate presumed credit when calculating Corporate Income Tax (IRPJ) and Social Contribution on Net Profit (CSLL) for the costs of renegotiating debts they assume.

Furthermore, the project highlights that, at the Union’s discretion, these creditor financial institutions may request guarantees from the Operations Guarantee Fund (FGO).

Amendments

The rapporteur, Senator Alan Rick (União-AC), proposed two amendments. One to make the creation of the Central Debt Consolidation Center for Small Farmers authorized and not an obligation for the Ministry of Finance. He argues that such determination can be questioned regarding initiative defects, since the organization of government bodies is a private initiative of the Executive Branch.

The other amendment removes from the text a provision that imposes a monthly flow of payments for new credit operations within the scope of Desenrola Rural. For the senator, the periodicity is inappropriate for operations, considering that rural credit follows the logic of the agricultural production and marketing cycle and the amortization of financed amounts is usually carried out per year or semester.

Now, the matter goes to the CAE for a final decision.