09:25 AM
It was recently learned that the Ministry of Agriculture issued, apparently very quietly, Resolution 00124. The point is that this measure aroused the concern of agricultural unions, since they claim that it could violate the laws that govern parafiscal funds, which is why they will appeal to legal action against the measure.
This document created the program to promote the Confianza Colombia Rural Productive Association. This explains that the idea is to generate economic and social development and improve the production of small and medium-sized agricultural producers.
However, what causes discomfort in the agricultural unions, consulted by EL COLOMBIANO, It obeys article five, which talks about the resources with which the program will be financed. It mentions: money from the General Budget of the Nation, from donations and international contributions, from credit financing, from agreements with private and public entities, and of course, in paragraph two, it stipulates feeding on parafiscal funds.
It reads: “The resources of the Program for the Promotion of Productive Rural Associations (…) will be the parafiscal resources authorized by the competent body for economic, social and infrastructure programs, destined for the Organizations of Peasants, Small and Medium Agricultural Producers” .
In this regard, the Society of Farmers of Colombia (SAC) explained that the resources of these funds do not belong to the National Government, since they are contributions that farmers in each sector make by law so that these resources are remunerated in works or actions that benefit to each productive sector.
The point is that Law 101 of 1993, known as the General Agricultural Development Law, established agricultural contributions and from there the regulations for each fund were created, which exclusively defines in what situations and for what actions the resources of every savings.
Jorge Enrique Bedoya, president of the SAC, pointed out that, without a doubt, There is concern about the certainty of legality of the resolution, in terms of the direction of the investment of parafiscal resources, since it is only up to the laws to determine the destination of the investment, so any modification should go through Congress.
“The laws that created the parafiscal funds define precisely what their resources can be invested in, and the Government is wrong to issue a resolution that can go beyond what the laws define,” said the union leader.
It is estimated that some 13 agricultural sectors have parafiscal funds, including livestock, potatoes, panela, rice, coffee, palm, fruits, cocoa, chicken and eggs, cotton and pork. . It is estimated that the coffee union made a contribution of $78 million dollars (about $304.2 billion Colombian dollars) last year to that fund.
The annoyance of the producers is that, apparently, the Government would seek to change the rules of the game with the new resolution. “A little play,” said a producer.
José Félix Laufarie, president of Fedegán, assured that in the case of livestock, the law does not include among its items that this money can be invested in infrastructure works.
“Our essence is to serve the small producer, we also have to serve them according to the rules of the game, it is not about identifying by hand who is and who is not, but rather a clear, open and fair game, I don’t know where they are going. and what is the intention of the Government, the parafiscal funds have a legal framework and their own law, let’s see how this ends,” said the union leader.
This is because the resolution issued by the Ministry of Agriculture is very clear in indicating that the beneficiaries would be small and medium producers.
Some unions consulted expressed their concern that Gustavo Petro’s administration is seeking to benefit sectors related to its political horizon with that capital. A fear that would not be new, since in March of this year, EL COLOMBIANO published the article: “Coffee growers suspect that Petro is giving subsidies only to its friendly departments.” In that text it was explained that the subsidies from the Fund for Access to Agricultural Inputs (Faia) were not being prioritized to the most coffee-growing regions, as would be ideal, but rather were more related to the departments and regions that most supported Gustavo Petro in the presidential elections, that is, where it has the greatest political capital.
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And that is not the only fear that stalks the unions. The law of parafiscal funds indicates that each fund is administered by the most representative union of each economic activity, which means that if another group is formed with popular support from producers, it would compete for the management of resources. .
In short, this last concern has more support for the National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC), since the Government has repeatedly questioned its management of the National Coffee Fund, even the Minister of Agriculture, Jhénifer Mojica, questioned the solidity finance of the coffee union.
Furthermore, in the first days of April of this year, The Agriculture Ministry organized a Coffee Assembly in Bogotá, where it did not invite the FNC, which the same union interpreted as a threat to the Federation’s coffee institutions. Other analysts and columnists spoke of Petro seeking to build another coffee group to attribute management of the Fund to. Something important, since the Government and the union that manages the resources sit on the board of directors of the parafiscal funds.
Germán Bahamón, manager of the FNC, noted that he also has his concerns about the resolution, also because he assured that it did not complete the process of opening to citizen comments.
The SAC, for its part, was clear that it will seek all legal avenues to verify the legality of the resolution. “If this measure goes against what Congress approved in the law that gave life to the funds, then the judicial entities will determine to overthrow it,” said Jorge Bedoya.
The truth is that the first measure of the unions will be to try to dialogue with the Ministry, then, if there is no agreement, they will take legal action.
