The Federal Government enacted the new regulatory framework for the Brazilian Export Processing Zones (EPZs), simplifying the special regime requirements for companies operating at those free trade areas.

The Federal Government, through Law n. 14.184/2021, enacted the new regulatory framework for the Brazilian Export Processing Zones (EPZs), free trade areas with a special tax regime, designed to foster the constitution of industrial parks, and attract companies that export industrial goods. The new framework simplifies the obligations for companies operating at EPZs, as well as the institutional framework of such free trade areas, which are supervised by the National Council of Export Processing (CZPE, in the Portuguese acronym) at the Ministry of Economy.

The new law amended Law n. 11.508/2007 in order to provide its simplification and improvement. The main changes relate to company operation requirements and the special regime conditions:

The new law revoked article 18 of the framework, which required companies operating at EPZs to maintain a threshold of at least 80% of their gross annual revenue originating from the export of goods, in favor of a national treatment approach – as provided in article 6-C, EPZ-operating companies can sell their products to Brazilian markets upon the levying of the same taxes applied to domestic markets;
It allowed trading companies to carry out export procedures for companies operating at EPZs (article 6-E); and
It replaced article 9, authorizing EPZ-operating companies to constitute a company branch outside the EPZ area, as long as its activities are limited to technical or administrative support, with regard to the main industrial activity.

Furthermore, other special regime conditions were streamlined, including the rules for company acquisition of machinery and equipment (article 6-A), and company acquisition of inputs, intermediary products and packaging materials (article 6-B).

As provided in article 5 of the new law, the new regulatory framework comes into force on October 13, 2021, while some provisions come into force on January 1, 2022.

As of July 2021, there is only one fully operational EPZ, the EPZ Pecém in the Ceará state. According to the Ministry of Economy, other 13 authorized EPZs are under effective implementation, namely:

North Region: EPZ Acre (Acre state); EPZ Araguaína (Tocantins state); EPZ Boa Vista (Roraima state);
Northeast Region: EPZ Ilhéus (Bahia state); EPZ Macaíba (Rio Grande do Norte state); EPZ Parnaíba (Piauí state); EPZ Suape (Pernambuco state);
Midwest Region: EPZ Bataguassú (Mato Grosso do Sul state); EPZ Cáceres (Mato Grosso state);
Southeast Region: EPZ Açú (Rio de Janeiro state); EPZ Teófilo Otoni (Minas Gerais state); EPZ Uberaba (Minas Gerais state); and
South Region: EPZ Imbituba (Santa Catarina state).

The 14 EPZ locations are presented on the map (in Portuguese).