The Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) has five votes in favor of validating restrictions on land purchases by Brazilian companies controlled by foreign entities.

The Plenary of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) has five votes in favor of the validity of restrictive rules on the purchase or use of rural properties by Brazilian companies controlled by foreigners. The issue is being discussed in the Argument of Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 342 and in the Original Civil Action (ACO) 2463, which returned to the agenda in the session this Thursday (19). A request for review by Minister Alexandre de Moraes suspended the judgment. In the ADPF, the Brazilian Rural Society (SRB) questions article 1, paragraph 1, of Law 5.709/1971, which extends the legal regime applicable to the acquisition of rural property by foreigners to Brazilian legal entities in which foreign individuals or legal entities participate who hold the majority of their share capital and reside or have their headquarters abroad. In ACO 2463, the Union and the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) intend to annul an opinion from the General Corregidor of Justice of the State of São Paulo that exempts notaries and registry officials from applying the rule in the cases in question. :: Administrative Procedure In today's session, Minister Flávio Dino followed the vote of the rapporteur, Minister Marco Aurélio (retired), and Minister Gilmar Mendes, who voted in yesterday's session, for the constitutionality of the rule and the Union's competence to authorize foreign legal entities or those equivalent to acquire rural properties. According to him, Brazilian law is moderate when compared to international norms that deal with the matter. "It is not a matter of preventing the purchase, but rather of submitting to an administrative procedure," he explained. Dino refuted the argument that declaring the law constitutional would demonstrate hostility to foreign capital. In his assessment, the country has a very high level of foreign participation in Brazilian agriculture, which contradicts the assertion. Similarly, Ministers Cristiano Zanin and Nunes Marques believe that there is no contradiction with the Federal Constitution in a company having to undergo a specific procedure to acquire Brazilian land. 

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.