Provisional measure dispenses with EPZ export targets to expand oxygen supply

The Executive Branch sent Provisional Measure 1033/21 to the Chamber of Deputies to exempt medical-oxygen-producing companies located in export processing zones (EPZs) from the requirement of receiving 80% of their annual sales from the foreign market. The waiver is valid for 2021.

Oxygen is one of the main medical supplies used in hospitals to treat severe cases of Covid-19.

The government stated in a note that the measure aims to allow companies authorized to operate in EPZs to expand the supply of oxygen in the domestic market.

“Thus, the increase in the supply of medicinal oxygen in the Brazilian market is justified to meet the considerable growth of patients who are hospitalized in health units with severe respiratory failure, due to infections caused by the coronavirus,” said the statement.

A similar provisional measure was enacted by the government last year, effective only for 2020.

Provisional Measure 1033/21 will now be analyzed by the Chamber sitting en banc. Then it goes to the Senate.

Source: Agência Câmara de Notícias

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