Resolution CMN No. 3277 — Special Measures for Proagro Plus in Drought-Affected Municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, and Santa Catarina; Extension of Investment Installments for Pronaf Group E Farmers; Additional Payment Terms for Proagro Withdrawals

RESOLUTION NO. 3277

Dispenses with special measures within the scope of "Proagro Mais" for enterprises affected by drought in municipalities of the States of Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, and Santa Catarina, regarding the extension of installments of investments by farmers of group "E" of Pronaf, and regarding the granting of an additional deadline for payment of working capital financings for producers who withdraw their request for coverage under Proagro or "Proagro Mais".

THE CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL, in accordance with Article 9 of Law No. 4,595 of December 31, 1964, makes public that the NATIONAL MONETARY COUNCIL, in a session held on March 23, 2005, considering the provisions of Articles 4, item VI, of said law, Articles 4 and 14 of Law No. 4,829 of November 5, 1965, and Article 3 of Law No. 5,969 of December 11, 1973, Laws No. 6,685 of September 3, 1979, 8,171 of January 17, 1991, Article 5 of Law No. 10,186 of February 12, 2001, and Decree No. 175 of July 10, 1991,

HAS RESOLVED:

Article 1. To authorize, on an emergency and extraordinary basis, exclusively for the 2004/2005 harvest, in support of family farmers enrolled in the National Program of Family Agriculture (Pronaf), with enterprises located in the States of Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, and Santa Catarina, in municipalities affected by drought at a severity level that justified the declaration of a state of calamity or emergency, with recognition by the Federal Government, the adoption of the following measures:

I - granting, to the family farmer who communicated to the financial agent the occurrence of losses due to drought and who has withdrawn or may withdraw the request for coverage under the Agricultural Activity Guarantee Program (Proagro) or "Proagro Mais" before the inspection is carried out, an additional period of two years, from the agreed maturity date, for the payment of working capital financing installments due or coming due in 2005, upon request by the borrower, provided that this person declares or proves losses exceeding 30% (thirty percent) of the expected production, requiring, in this case, the amortization of half of the outstanding balance subject to the extension at the end of the first year after the original maturity;

II - extension, for up to one year after the maturity of the last agreed installment, of the payment deadline for installments due and coming due in 2005, relating to investment operations responsible by borrowers of group "E" of Pronaf, observing the following conditions:

a) for the farmer who has working capital financing with a request for coverage under Proagro or "Proagro Mais" approved, the extension referred to must be carried out automatically, dispensing with case-by-case analysis and the formalization of an amendment to the credit instrument;

b) for other cases, the borrower must request the extension from the financial agent, dispensing with the formalization of an amendment to the credit instrument and observing the following deadlines:

1. until April 15, 2005, for installments due in 2005 or coming due until April 30, 2005;

2. until fifteen days before maturity, for installments coming due during the year 2005, from April 30, 2005.

Article 2. Family farmers who suffered losses caused by drought in municipalities of the states referred to in Article 1, for whom there was no declaration of a state of calamity or emergency or still without recognition by the Federal Government, may have their payment deadlines for installments due and coming due during the year 2005 extended, in the manner set forth in Article 1, item II, through case-by-case analysis, if it is proven that the inability to pay is due to loss from drought.

Article 3. The extensions referred to in Articles 1 and 2 must be carried out without prejudice to compliance with the provisions of Resolution No. 2,682 of December 21, 1999, regarding the classification and the constitution of provision for doubtful credit liquidation of the operations in question.

Article 4. The Secretariat of Family Agriculture of the Ministry of Agrarian Development will provide financial agents with the list of municipalities considered to be in a situation of emergency or calamity, duly recognized by the Federal Government, due to the current drought.

Article 5. The deadline for proving losses, provided for in MCR 16-4-13, in the states referred to in Article 1, for the 2004/2005 harvest, is twenty calendar days.

Article 6. "Proagro Mais" operations contracted or renewed relating to the 2004/2005 harvest, including for the purpose of collecting the additional fee, may be registered in the Common Register of Rural Operations (Recor) until April 30, 2005.

Article 7. The following maximum deadlines are established for financial agents to conduct loss verification processes, within the scope of Proagro, for the 2004/2005 harvest, in the states referred to in Article 1:

I - up to ten business days, from receipt of the communication of losses, to request proof of losses as described in MCR 16-4-2;

II - up to 45 business days, from receipt of the loss verification report, to analyze and judge the coverage requests as described in MCR 16-5-28.

Article 8. The use of simplified documentation, in the form to be defined by the Central Bank of Brazil, is permitted regarding the communication of losses and the expert report verifying losses.

Sole Paragraph. The document referred to in this article must:

I - be used for the single and final inspection of the enterprise subject to the communication of losses;

II - contain the record of the parameters necessary for calculating coverage specified in MCR 16-10.

Article 9. The proportionality and deduction established for Proagro in MCR 16-1-14-b and 16-5-11-b do not apply to "Proagro Mais", exclusively with regard to the coverage of the portion of own resources of producers enrolled in the program.

Article 10. The Central Bank of Brazil is authorized to define new deadlines and procedures that prove indispensable for the effective implementation of "Proagro Mais".

Article 11. This resolution enters into force on the date of its publication.

Article 12. Resolution No. 3,264 of March 3, 2005, is hereby repealed.

Brasília, March 31, 2005.

Henrique de Campos Meirelles
President