The bill intents to regulate “the management, the organization, the decision process and the social control” of the federal regulatory agencies in Brazil.

The Brazilian Senate’s floor approved on May 30, 2019 the text of the General Law of Regulatory Agencies (Bill S. 52 of 2013 or PLS 52/2013), which establishes a variety of measures that aim to guarantee the transparency and autonomy of these institutions, as well as to avoid the interference of private sector interests on regulatory requirements. The bill also deals with the interaction between regulatory agencies and competition agencies, as well as the operational interaction between regulatory agencies and federal, state, and municipal regulatory bodies.

According to the new legal framework, every agency will have to present an annual activity report to the Brazilian Congress. Among other information that will need to be presented, the agencies will have to justify their expenditure and present the results of the regulatory actions and inspections they conducted. The bill also promotes adjusting the specific bills that have created the federal regulatory agencies, such as the ANATEL, ANVISA and ANS.

Agencies will also have to establish the so-called “management contracts” with the Ministries to which they are linked. These contracts should present goals to be attained, establish frameworks and determine funding sources to their activities. Also, agencies will have to appoint an ombudsman to work with their respective Board of Directors. Furthermore, the bill determines that politicians or their relatives cannot be appointed to management positions inside federal agencies. Officials in these positions will now hold a maximum term of 4 years with a single renewal.  

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