In a speech on Tuesday (13) senator Tião Viana (PT-AC) defended the adoption of environmental rules on Brazilian public auction processes. The senator informed that he has presented a bill (PLS 25/07) which establishes the use of environmental sustainability criterion to the auctions promoted by the public power.

Tião Viana informed that about 30% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is transferred to governmental purchases in the Union sphere as well as in the states and municipalities.

- It’s an extraordinary amount of resources and we don’t have rules of environmental responsibility for those who sell the commodities or for the ones who buy them – he stated.

Tião Viana mentioned a similar experience adopted by the European Union two years ago entitled “Purchasing Green”, which includes the concept of sustainable governmental purchases. The senator demonstrated an instance: a cellulose company that does not put into practice forest handling will be forbidden to sell commodities to public organs.

The senator also said that Eduardo Jorge, the secretary of Environment in São Paulo during mayor Jose Serra’s administration, adopted the purchase of recycled paper done by São Paulo’s City Hall.   

- Acting this way, he was preserving two million trees in São Paulo from being knocked out to supply the new demand of paper, when the recycled paper could serve the community. Then, the scope of this kind of issue is extraordinary – he stated.