Brazil Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in brazil, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Trade Barriers
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Overview

Brazil can be a challenging market for doing business, in part due to a complicated regulatory environment. U.S. companies often report duplicative, arbitrary, or sometimes discriminatory regulations as barriers to trade for U.S. products in Brazil. 

U.S. companies also cite high tariffs, an uncertain customs system, and high and unpredictable tax burdens, as major hurdles to doing business in Brazil. U.S. exporters in highly regulated industries such as medical devices, and health and safety products have a particularly challenging time navigating Brazilian rules and regulations. U.S. companies can increase their chances of success by working with Brazilian partners and demonstrating their commitment to the Brazilian market. While U.S. companies have faced market access challenges in Brazil over the past several years, including local content requirements, the U.S. Government is working with the Government of Brazil (GOB) to reduce non-tariff barriers, especially in the areas of trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, technical standards, and conformity assessment through several bilateral and multilateral fora. 

Brazil has a strong regulatory regime, strict rules regarding standards, and an active cohort of standards organizations. INMETRO is the operating arm of Brazil’s standards regime, led by the National Council of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (CONMETRO). The council is formed by a group of eight ministries and five governmental agencies. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) also has Brazil-related standards information via its Standards Portal. 

On February 2, 2022, the bilateral U.S. – Brazil Protocol Relating to Trade Rules and Transparency entered into force, covering commitments in three areas: trade facilitation, good regulatory practices (GRPs), and anti-corruption. 

In recent years, Brazil has taken some significant steps designed to ease regulatory burdens and implement GRPs including:  

  • In August 2024 the Government of Brazil launched its “Regula Melhor” Strategy, with the objective of making the preparation, implementation, monitoring and review of Brazilian regulations more efficient, in addition to promoting transparency and public participation in the regulatory process. 
     
  • In February 2022, the main metrology body in Brazil, INMETRO, launched its new regulatory framework which is more aligned with international best practices. It will serve as a guideline for regulating products under INMETRO’s domain, such as toys and electrical equipment. The framework reduces the number of products under regulation, so that only products with a safety or environmental concern remain covered. The framework also allows for the greater use of self-declaration of suppliers and producers, when appropriate, and increases the acceptance of international tests. 
     
  • On June 30, 2020, Brazil published Decree 10.411, which implements the regulatory impact analysis (RIA) established by the Economic Freedom and Regulatory Agencies laws, which make certain GRPs, like public consultation requirements and the use of a regulatory impact analysis (RIA), legal requirements for all Brazilian regulating agencies.   

The governments of the United States and Brazil continue to collaborate and share information and best practices about good regulatory practices to promote a regulatory environment that is transparent, consistent, and predictable. This process has helped U.S. companies comply with Brazilian regulations, since Brazil has been more open to regularly consulting the private sector when developing new regulations. By implementing and improving regulatory policy, Brazil has been reducing regulatory burdens for U.S. exporters and increasing mutual understanding of U.S. and Brazilian regulatory systems to enable better promotion of bilateral commerce and investment.