On 7 July 2023, the Substitutive Amendment to Bill No. 2,384/2023 was approved, with the purpose of disciplining the proclamation of judgment results in the event of a tie vote within the scope of the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (CARF), among other measures connected to tax litigation and the transaction in the collection of credits by the Federal Treasury.
On 6 July 2023, the Brazilian National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) issued its first sanction for non-compliance with the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD). The ANPD’s General Supervision Coordination determined the penalties in conclusion to the administrative sanctioning process against a small business entity, due to violation of articles 7 and 41 of the LGPD, and article 5 of Resolution CD/ANPD No. 1/2021.
In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in Custom Audits by both Federal and State Tax Authorities, mainly to companies with foreign investment. In this Quick Chat video, our International Commercial partners in Mexico along with the Managing Partner for Baker McKenzie’s Mexico offices discuss what to expect from an audit, the consequences including financial liability and the preventive measures Mexican companies must take.
On 10 July 2023, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) reissued General License 40B, “Authorizing Certain Transactions Involving the Exportation or Reexportation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas to Venezuela.” On the same day, OFAC made public regulations to implement Executive Order 14078, “Bolstering Efforts to Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained United States Nationals Home.”
By means of Resolution Nos. 93 and 94, the Agency for Access to Public Information (AAIP for its acronym in Spanish) approved: (i) the Program on Transparency, Document Management and Archives; and (ii) the Strategic Plan for the period 2022-2026, respectively.
On 3 July 2023, the Brazilian president sanctioned Law n. 14,611/2023, which aims to ensure equal payment for women and men who perform the same activities. The new regulation also creates greater sanctions for employers.
The National Executive issued Decree No. 4,812 on 19 June 2023, which extends the waivers of Legal Regimes for export until 9 December 2023 (“Decree”). Said waivers were established on 9 June 2021 by Decree No. 4,5252 regarding Optimization of Export Processes, which was extended until June 2022 and June 2023.
The Decree established its validity as of 9 December 2023, having a retroactive effect.
The National Executive Branch submitted Message 87/2023 to the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Nation with the Personal Data Protection Bill of Law (“Bill”).
The Bill is the outcome of a participatory, open and transparent process led by the Agency for Access to Public Information, which included the publication of the Personal Data Protection Draft Bill and its subsequent opening for public consultation. After receiving a total of 173 opinions, contributions and comments, the AAIP presented the Bill to the NEB and now the latter has submitted the Bill to Congress.
Our latest Antitrust and Competition Handbook is now available. We have developed this guidance as a practical resource for multinationals trying to harmonize their approach to antitrust compliance in different countries in Latin America, as well as for local companies that are bringing their compliance programs up to international standards.
The Brazilian Secretariat of Foreign Trade opened, on 22 June 2023, a new investigation to assess whether the Chinese government granted actionable subsidies to its national producers who exported fiber-optic cables to Brazil. The investigation may result in the imposition of countervailing measures and the consequent increase in the cost of Brazilian imports of fiber-optic cables for a period of five years. In parallel, there is another ongoing investigation into the alleged practice of dumping by Chinese manufacturers/exporters of the same product, which may result in the imposition of antidumping duties, further raising the cost of Brazilian importers.