Farmers’ market sellers from Lagos are in Lisbon today (March 5) fighting against new laws which they claim will see hundreds of small producers throughout Portugal going out of business, reports Correio do Manhã.
The laws – requiring anyone selling as much as a single potato to be registered with the tax authorities and issue receipts – came into effect on January 31.
“Movimento do Levante” (named after Lagos’ Saturday Levante farmers’ market) has raised a 2,250-strong petition, which has now been accepted by parliament.
Today representatives are reportedly in Lisbon, meeting with MPs. The objective, says Correio da Manhã, is to prepare a discussion to be tabled in parliament.
The movement’s spokeswoman Natividade Correia told Correio da Manhã: “We want the activities of farmers – as set out in Article 53 of the tax code governing IVA – to be free of the obligation to provide official receipts, in line with what already happens with the transport documents (guias), which they no longer need to carry.”
If the bid isn’t successful, Correia warns: “Small producers, many of whom are elderly, will simply give up and stop cultivating altogether.”
