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To ensure responsibility for the products that reach consumers’ tables, the federal government is adopting tougher environmental rules.
The Decree No. 12,189, published on September 20, 2024, amends Decree No. 6,514/2008 and introduces a set of stricter rules for investigating infringements and applying administrative environmental sanctions.
Among the main changes are the creation of provisions that allow for higher fines, as well as the imposition of doubled penalties in specific situations, including failure to comply with judicial orders to restore degraded areas.
What changes in practice?
One of the decree’s most controversial inclusions was provisions that expand the possibility of embargoing areas by polygon sets (areas embargoed through geoprocessing tools) and toughen pecuniary sanctions.
In short, the government will be able to halt economic activities more easily than before – which requires companies that wish to operate in protected areas to exercise increased vigilance.
The text also provides for fines for those who fail to repair, compensate, or indemnify for possible environmental damage, with amounts that can reach R$50 million in the most serious cases. The application of penalties may be doubled under circumstances determined by the regulatory act itself.
As a result, the public authorities place themselves in a position of greater enforcement pressure. To that end, their administrative tools have been expanded to ensure that all compliance procedures are carried out properly.
Sector pressures government over legislation
In May 2025, the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA) filed in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) a request for an injunction against certain legal provisions used to apply administrative sanctions. The CNA argues that measures are being taken without due prior defense, and that they allow indiscriminate embargoes that can affect landowners who have not committed any infractions.
Criminal fires or natural phenomena, if occurring shortly before inspection, can also serve as a pretext for applying sanctions. According to the organization, this increases the risk of violations of constitutional guarantees, as well as increases insecurity for rural production.
Tools to prevent environmental infractions
The new regulatory framework for agribusiness signals a shift toward a more preventive stance by the State, with punishments that can discourage environmental infractions and accelerate remediation.
At the same time, it raises alarms about the risks of indiscriminate application and about the need to combine strict sanctions with technical support and programs that enable the effective recovery of affected areas — for example, through project banks, technical training and lines of financing for recovery and prevention of fires and deforestation.
IBAMA’s website has a list that defines authorized (or not) processes of degradation, alteration or suppression of vegetation, as well as the legal provisions linked to each of them.
Keeping the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) up to date, adopting management systems that monitor legal and environmental obligations and conducting regular environmental audits can help obtain certifications and negotiate with international buyers – in addition to bringing greater confidence in the eyes of the authorities.
Reference source:
https://www.planalto.gov.br/CCIVIL_03/_Ato2023-2026/2024/Decreto/D12189.htm
https://www.gov.br/ibama/pt-br/assuntos/biodiversidade/recuperacao-ambiental