Aug 04, 2015
Brazilian Farmers not required to Purchase Annual License Plates
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
After strenuous objections from the agricultural sector, the Brazilian government has decided to drop their plans that would have required farmers to purchase annual license plates for their agricultural equipment. The annual plates would have cost 3% of the value of the machinery and farmers complained that the cost would have been in the tens of thousands of reals for machinery that rarely traveled on the highways of Brazil. In a reversal of her prior position, President Rousseff signed the legislation that exempted agricultural and construction equipment from the annual license plate requirement.
Instead of purchasing an annual license plate, all equipment that may travel down highways in Brazil needs to be registered with the Minister of Agriculture and the state, but there will be no charge associated with the registration. The registration, which includes vehicle identification numbers and is intended to facilitate the recovery of equipment that may be stolen by giving the farmers a state-santioned proof of ownership. The same is being done for construction equipment as well.
The new law does require professional drivers of farm equipment to keep a log book attesting to the hours worked per day. The normal work day is eight hours with two hours of overtime. The log book is required for drivers of tractors, combines, or any other motorized agricultural equipment.