A interpretação do contrato agrário de integração vertical da LEI nº 13.288 de 2016 à luz do constructo das redes contratuais

Abstract

The development of production technologies has given rise to a transformation in business organization, giving rise to contract networks. This form of organization, counter to the competitive logic of the free market, is based on collectivity, cooperation, and coordination, allowing for greater specialization of agents with reduced transaction costs. However, when conflicts arising from contract networks provoke a legal response, it becomes apparent that contractual and obligational rules are based on premises that are inadequate for contract networks, as they were not conceived for short-term contracts grounded in competitiveness and individuality. One type of contract that may be suitable for structuring contract networks is contract integration of different links in the agro-industrial chain, since it developed under the same context as other businesses in this category. These contracts were typified by Law 13.288 of 2016. This study aimed to investigate whether this typical integration contract is suitable for structuring contract networks, and if so, whether the application of contractual network theory as an interpretative framework results in more appropriate solutions than those arising from the application of general civil rules of the Brazilian legal system for contracts and obligations. To carry out this analysis, the first chapter begins by contextualizing the emergence of contract networks, as to provide a better understanding of their characteristics and justify their existence from economic and social perspectives. Subsequently, this study addressed the characteristics of contractual networks, to enable verifying later on whether the integration contract under Law 13.288 is suitable for structuring these networks. Also, it addressed the content of the contract network theory, which is a new interpretative framework developed to adapt the Brazilian contractual and obligational rules to contract network businesses. At the end of the first chapter, the content of the legal microsystem of agrarian law was delineated, specifically its application to the integration contract, as to later on be analyzed in conjunction with the contract network theory for a more adequate interpretation of this legal arrangement. In the second chapter, an economic analysis of the integration contract was undertaken in order to identify the materiality of the contract, and to provide a parameter to verify how adequate the legal solutions are to it. Next, the content of Law 13.288 was studied, in addition to identifying the main conflicts arising from integration contracts and the adequacy of the legal solutions currently proposed by the legislation, the Judiciary, and legal literature to them. Finally, based on the information gathered in the rest of this study, it was examined whether the integration contract is suitable for structuring contract networks and whether the solutions resulting from the application of the contractual network theory were more appropriate than those resulting from the application of and from its interpretation through the framework of civil rules. The method of approach used was the hermeneutic-phenomenological, the procedure method applied was the structuralism, and the research techniques employed were the bibliographic and documentary.