International Trade / Defense and Aerospace
Decree 9,607/2018, published today, creates the National Policy for Exportation and Importation of Defense Products (Pnei-Prode). The new policy aims to contribute to the export and import controls of defense products, to promote exports of such products, to develop the Brazilian industry of defense and to prevent and eliminate the illicit traffic of weapons and to prevent their diversion.
The definition of defense products includes goods, services and information used for defense activities, including weapons, ammunition, means of transportation and communication, amongst others.
Under the Pnei-Prode, the Ministry of Defense shall be responsible for defining the list of defense products and for analyzing import and export operations regarding defense products, including aspects related to the end user, amongst other activities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be responsible for authorizing the requests for preliminary negotiation regarding the exportation of defense products with the third country or foreign buyer, for notifying the United Nations Security Council, when required, for identifying existing commercial opportunities and promoting the Brazilian offer of defense products, amongst others.
The Pnei-Prode also regulates the procedure to import and export defense products, including preliminary procedures and export and import controls.
The new policy is part of the Regulatory Agenda of Foreign Trade, published by the Chamber of Foreign Trade in August 2018, and it aims at substituting the National Policy for the Exportation of Material of Military Use. The Chamber of Foreign Trade also approved, on December 11th, the creation of a technical group for the coordination, articulation and follow-up of negotiations for the financing and guarantee of the exportation of Brazilian defense products, called Team Brazil Defense.