Review №3 of Brazilian Antitrust News from the Experts of the BRICS Competition Centre
- Brazil has confirmed a high level of alignment with the new OECD recommendations
-The regulator’s study has identified concentration in the municipal retail fuel market
- CADE has sentenced an individual in a case concerning tenders for airport food service contracts
- CADE has upheld precautionary measures against Itaú bank
- The DEIA project has been launched to implement artificial intelligence in the regulator’s operations
- CADE is preparing guidelines on cooperation between competitors
- Settlement agreements have been signed with dental associations
- The cement industry union has committed to ensuring neutrality in the construction mixtures market
- The Ministry of Finance has initiated a review of five sectors for anticompetitive regulations
Brazil has confirmed a high level of alignment with the new OECD recommendations
CADE has published a report assessing the degree to which Brazilian merger control rules comply with the updated OECD recommendations from June. The study shows that the country’s current regime largely aligns with international best practices aimed at improving procedural efficiency and transparency.
The latest OECD recommendations prescribe, among other things, an analysis of risks of collusion between remaining market players following the removal of current violators, an additional assessment of whether a transaction brings real net benefits to consumers that outweigh harm to competition, and specific factors such as the impact of concentration transactions on market innovation landscapes, multi-sided platform markets, and ecosystems.
The regulator noted that OECD recommendations have historically played a key role in the evolution of Brazil’s competition defense system, including the transition to a pre-merger notification model.
Source: CADE, Relatório sobre a aderência do Brasil à Recomendação da OCDE sobre o controle de concentrações
The regulator’s study has identified concentration in the municipal retail fuel market
The Department of Economic Studies (DEE) has released a paper analyzing the corporate network ownership structure of gas stations in Brazil. The results show that the actual level of concentration in municipalities, especially small ones, may be significantly higher than it initially appears due to hidden links between fuel station operators. Unlike traditional reports, CADE applied network theory to identify connections among gas stations through common partners.
The study also highlighted the states with the highest levels of local concentration. The absolute leader across all fuel types was the central-northern state of Tocantins, where 85.7% of municipalities showed high concentration in gasoline markets.
The paper underscores the need for continuous monitoring of the sector, not only in terms of company conduct but also from the perspective of assessing its structure.
Source: CADE, Concentração na Revenda de Combustíveis Líquidos: Uma Análise Municipal com Base em Redes Societárias
CADE has sentenced an individual in a case concerning tenders for airport food service contracts
The CADE Tribunal unanimously found an individual guilty of organizing a cartel in tenders held by the state-owned company Infraero for the right to lease space for snack bars at the country’s largest airports in 2014.
The collusion affected tenders for coffee shop services at the airports of Campo Grande, São Paulo (Congonhas), Florianópolis, Maceió, Recife, and São José dos Pinhais.
The investigation established that the convicted individual effectively controlled the company Alimentare through intermediaries and was the main beneficiary of the scheme. The violator was fined and banned from participating in public tenders for a period of five years.
Source: CADE
CADE has upheld precautionary measures against Itaú bank
The regulator rejected Itaú’s complaint, reaffirming the need to maintain restrictive measures as part of an investigation into the bank’s conduct in the digital wallet market. The court found substantial evidence of possible barriers to competitors.
The investigation concerns potential restrictions that the bank imposed on transactions related to digital wallets. There are suspicions that the bank created obstacles for other market participants.
At the same time, the Tribunal confirmed the defense’s right to access case materials, requiring the preparation of redacted versions of relevant documents that do not contain trade secrets. If the bank fails to comply with the orders, it faces a daily fine of $50,000.
Source: CADE
The DEIA project has been launched to implement artificial intelligence in the regulator’s operations
CADE has begun implementing the “Economic Defense with Artificial Intelligence” (DEIA) project, aimed at improving document analysis and detecting anticompetitive conduct patterns. The system will enable automated document classification, key information extraction, and predictive risk analysis. The project is part of the agency’s digital transformation plan, scheduled to run through the end of 2026.
Within the scope of the agency’s digitalization efforts, certain results have already been achieved. For example, the third version of the case law search system, which uses machine learning for automatic document indexing, has been launched; a mobile application called Cade Digital has been created, providing access to tribunal documents, the SEI system, and real-time meeting schedules; and a Business Intelligence (BI) dashboard has been implemented for the real-time monitoring of decisions made during virtual sessions.
Source: CADE
CADE is preparing guidelines on cooperation between competitors
The regulator has opened a public consultation on the draft Guidelines on Cooperation between Competitors, which will run until May 4, 2026. The document aims to clarify the assessment of mechanisms such as joint ventures and innovation projects. The initiative seeks to help businesses distinguish between legitimate practices that bring efficiencies to the market and risky actions, such as unjustified exchanges of sensitive information.
It is worth noting that in the forthcoming document, CADE proposes a broad interpretation of the term “competitor.” This may include not only companies currently operating in the same product market but also potential entrants, as well as those that compete only in procurement or in setting technical standards.
Furthermore, cooperation may be considered a concentration act if it is structured as an “associative contract.” According to the document, this refers to agreements lasting two years or more that involve the sharing of risks and outcomes, entered into between competitors in the relevant market. In such cases, companies are required to obtain CADE’s approval before implementing the project (the standstill rule); otherwise, they face fines for gun jumping.
Source: CADE, Minuta do «Guia de Colaboração entre Concorrentes»
Settlement agreements have been signed with dental associations
The CADE Tribunal approved five new agreements to cease anticompetitive practices with regional dental councils in the states of Amazonas, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, and Amapá. The investigation concerned possible interference by the councils in price setting and prohibitions on discounts offered by dentists. In addition to commitments to cease non-competitive practices, the councils will pay special contributions totaling more than $155,000.
Source: CADE
The cement industry union has committed to ensuring neutrality in the construction mixtures market
CADE has approved a settlement agreement with the National Union of the Cement Industry (Sinaprocim) regarding a case concerning possible discrimination against products from certain suppliers. The union was accused of sending messages that could discredit the products of specific suppliers and lead to their exclusion from the market under the pretext of verifying technical compliance.
Under the terms of the agreement, the union is required to ensure that its communications are informative and neutral, avoiding individualized treatment of companies in the implementation of quality control programs. The commitments are valid for three years.
Source: CADE
The Ministry of Finance has initiated a review of five sectors for anticompetitive regulations
The Secretariat for Economic Reforms (SRE) has selected five topics for in-depth analysis under the second cycle of the Regulatory and Competition Assessment Procedure (PARC). The list includes rules in the areas of intercity bus transportation, offshore support vessel chartering, the radiopharmaceutical market, online drug sales, and the exchange of fiscal data. Based on consultations with regulators and businesses, the ministry may propose amendments to regulations that restrict free competition.
Specifically, the SRE identified particular regulatory acts that may contain provisions harmful to competition. These include, for example, the rules on registration, import, and quality control of radiopharmaceuticals established by National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) Collegiate Resolution RDC No. 738 of 2022, Law No. 8,383 of 1991, and subordinate regulations governing the provision of registration and tax data, among others.
Notably, the PARC methodology has received international recognition, having won the ICN-WBG Competition Advocacy Contest 2025, organized by the International Competition Network and the World Bank.
Source: Ministério da Fazenda
