The Brazilian government appealed to the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3) to try again the scope of total secrecy in the actions brought by two Brazilian associations against the North American manufacturer Boeing. The US giant is accused of threatening national sovereignty by hiring and attracting engineers in Brazil.
The action filed by two entities, the Brazilian Association of Defense and Security Material Industries (ABIMDE) and the Association of Aerospace Industries of Brazil (AIAB), seek a public civil action that aims to make the US company interrupt the process of systematic capture and hiring of engineers from companies that are part of the country's Defense Industrial Base (BID).
The co-option of these professionals, who are highly qualified, puts the survival of these companies at risk and, above all, threatens national sovereignty, one of the foundations of the Federal Constitution, provided for in its article 1, item I.
The preliminary injunction had been denied and is now in the process of presenting new evidence, and it was also denied in the first instance. According to Judge Barth Pires, there is no “sufficient reason to decree total secrecy”, but that “eventually, restrict the publicity of some documents when it proves to be absolutely indispensable, in view of the precepts of the Law on Access to Information”.
Now the Brazilian government has resorted to a second instance with the difference presented that secrecy is necessary “to contribute sensitive evidence to the case for national defense and for the personal privacy of some professionals involved in the procedure for abusive capture of skills” by Boeing.
The Attorney General's Office reinforces that “the main cause involves sensitive elements regarding the functioning of the Defense Industrial Base (BID), whose very existence is legally considered of a strategic and national security nature”.
I conclude by saying that “the wide dissemination of the content of the file could harm both the national defense and the privacy of people”, according to released the InfoMoney.
Co-option of highly qualified engineers
The professionals who have been co-opted by Boeing are mainly subtracted from the aerospace segment. They are highly qualified engineers, trained in public institutions (such as ITA, UFMG and UFSCar) with more than 10 years of experience.
They participated in projects in the areas of Defense and Security or held knowledge essential to national sovereignty and, precisely because of this, had access to qualified information and classified data on strategic projects for the country.
All the most relevant companies in the aerospace defense sector, as highlighted by the Public Civil Action, have already lost and are losing engineers to Boeing. Among them, Embraer, Akaer, Avibras, AEL Sistemas, Safran, Mac Jee, among others, stand out.
In the specific case of Embraer, there is a history that makes the situation more worrying. Boeing has proprietary information in its hands, to which it had access for two years (2018 to 2020). During the period, the two companies negotiated a partnership for the creation of j. Days before definitively sealing the agreement, which provided for the payment of US$ 4,2 billion to Embraer, Boeing unilaterally rescinded it.
“The AIAB defends free competition and the free market. But such principles are not absolute. They must be subject to constitutional imperatives such as national sovereignty, as set out in Article 170 of our constitution. What is at stake, therefore, is something far greater than any individual or collective interests.”, says Julio Shidara, president of the association. He also reinforces that the A's objective is to stop such systematic hiring that leaves a trail of predatory actions in the country's BID companies, until alternatives are discussed that can guarantee the preservation of national sovereignty. “In decades of existence, BID has never faced a situation like the one we are experiencing. We didn't build our current capacity overnight. It took decades of national collective effort and massive public and private investments. We cannot allow an accelerated degradation as the facts have shown”, concludes Shidara.
What is the Defense Industrial Base (BID)
BID encomes the entire diverse ecosystem of private and state-owned companies developed to guarantee Brazil's independence in the area of defense. It is formed by more than 1000 companies.
They are, for example, manufacturers of satellites, equipment for military use and systems developers. In the group, the aerospace segment deserves special mention, with Embraer being the largest company in the sector, around which hundreds of national companies that form part of its supply chain orbit.
Such companies also have a significant impact on the economy. The national defense sector is responsible for approximately 285 direct jobs and 850 indirect jobs, according to data from the Ministry of Defense, and generates around R$ 200 billion in the national economy, representing around 4% of the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) . To weaken this sector is to weaken the national economy.
The public civil action is pending at the 3rd Federal Court of São José dos Campos.
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