What does Bolsonaro’s new anti-bureaucracy legislation entail?

On September 20, President Jair Bolsonaro signed into law a new set of regulations for business which—despite potentially being his administration’s most consequential move so far—went fairly under the radar in the Brazilian press. The new rules aim at reducing bureaucracy and fostering business activities. We took the time to analyze the bill, and break it down for you:

Background: cutting bureaucracy

Back in May, President Bolsonaro signed the so-called “Economic Freedom Decree,” a provisional decree promising to make things easier for new businesses and reduce red tape. The core provision of the measure was the removal of operating license requirements for “low-risk” economic endeavors. These businesses will now be able to be set up in record time and will have no limits on their operating hours.

Another key point of the decree is the introduction of so-called “tacit authorization” for other companies. This means that when a request to open a business is submitted, the corresponding authority is given a deadline to grant or deny the application, if it does not respond within the allotted time, the license is automatically approved. This new feature...