On 8 October 2025, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ) issued a binding precedent on the criminal offense of pollution under Article 54. The ruling, delivered through Special Appeal under the system of repetitive appeals, clarifies that the offense is of a formal nature and constitutes an abstract danger crime. It establishes that potential harm to human health is sufficient for liability, without requiring proof of actual harm or technical expertise. Evidence may be provided through any suitable means. This precedent simplifies prosecution and will guide lower courts nationwide, reinforcing environmental compliance obligations.
The Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD) has become an autonomous regulatory agency with expanded powers under Provisional Measure No. 1.317/2025 and Decree No. 12.622/2025. It now oversees digital protections for children and adolescents, including enforcing court orders, setting security standards, and coordinating with other agencies. The ANPD can issue regulations, supervise entities, and ensure proportional obligations for tech providers, prioritizing children’s rights and data protection in digital environments.
On 5 September 2025, the European Commission published the Draft Adequacy Decision recognizing Brazil as a country that ensures an adequate level of protection for personal data, pursuant to Article 45 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This proposal marks the beginning of the formal procedure to authorize the transfer of personal data from the European Union to Brazil without the need for additional safeguards, effectively treating such transfers as equivalent to those occurring within the EU.
On 3 June 2025, SECEX (the Brazilian Secretariat of International Trade) initiated an antidumping investigation on the Brazilian imports of hot-rolled flat steel from China, commonly classified under certain NCM codes.The investigation may result in the imposition of antidumping measures and the consequent increase in the cost of Brazilian imports of flat-rolled hot-rolled flat laminates for a period of five years.
The Brazilian Secretariat of International Trade initiated a new antidumping investigation against Brazilian imports of pre-painted steels from China and India on 19 September 2024. Pre-painted steels are used for civil construction, automotive industry, white goods, packaging and others.
On 2 August 2024, Bill No. 2308/2023, which establishes the legal framework for low-carbon hydrogen in Brazil, was approved with a partial veto. Numbered as Law 14948/2024, it has created the National Low-Carbon Hydrogen Policy, which will form part of the country’s National Energy Policy. The Law has also established the competence of the National Agency for Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels to authorize, regulate and inspect activities in the low-carbon hydrogen value chain, and has created the Brazilian Hydrogen Certification System and the Special Incentive Regime for Low-Carbon Hydrogen Production, a tax regime designed to foster technological and industrial development, competitiveness and added value in national production chains.
On 30 July 2024, the National Consumer Secretariat published Technical Note No. 2/2024/Gab-DPDC/DPDC/SENACON/MJ, providing for the Ads Quality Criteria and Data Quality Criteria, as transparency parameters to be adopted and complied with by digital platforms in Brazil. The recent Technical Note established transparency criteria applicable to platforms, mentioning the need to comply with dignity, health, safety, protection and harmony within consumer relations.
The Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD) published Resolution CD/ANPD No. 19, which creates the procedures and rules for recognizing the suitability of other countries or international bodies to carry out international personal data transfer operations, as well as approving the standard contractual clauses that may be used by processing agents to legitimize the international transfer of personal data.
The Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD) has published Resolution CD/ANPD No. 18, which creates additional rules for the appointment of the Person in Charge (similar, although not equivalent, to the Data Protection Officer under the GDPR).
As background, according to Law No. 13.709/18 (Brazilian Data Protection Law (LGPD)), data controllers must appoint a Person in Charge. The “Person in Charge” has the primary role of serving as a communication liaison between the data controller, data subjects and ANPD, as well as providing training and guidance to the controller’s employees, and complying with any other instructions that controller may give.
Federal Law No. 14.904/2024 was published. The law establishes guidelines for the preparation of climate change adaptation plans, with the aim of guiding the implementation of measures to reduce the vulnerability and exposure to risks of environmental, social, economic and infrastructure systems, in the face of the current and expected adverse effects of climate change.