Decree No. 12,688 of October 21, 2025 was notified to the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Committee as a measure related to plastic products and articles (HS code 39), and its objective and justification include quality requirements.

The Decree establishes minimum quantitative targets to be met annually. National minimum percentages of recycled content to be incorporated in plastic packaging are established. These targets are mandatory as of January 2026 for large companies and July 2026 for small and medium-sized companies.

The key aspects regulated by the documents are as follows:

_
Scope

The system covers the entire product life cycle and is the responsibility of manufacturers, importers, distributors and traders. The regulation applies to primary, secondary and tertiary packaging, as well as comparable plastic products (such as plates, cups and cutlery contained in the dry fraction of municipal solid waste).

_
Operating Models and Obligations

Two operating models are contemplated for the reverse logistics system:

• Individual Model: Implemented and operationalized directly by the company.
• Collective Model: Structured and managed by a management entity authorized by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

_
Obligations for all agents

• Manufacturers and importers: They must comply with the recycled content goal, prioritize the hiring of cooperatives of collectors, and guarantee the reuse or recycling of returned containers.
• Distributors and Retailers: They have the obligation to orient consumers on the return of containers, install and maintain voluntary drop-off points (VDPs) ( in the case of retailers), and route returnable and non-returnable containers to their respective recycling cycles.

_
Importer’s Obligations in Brazil

The obligations imposed on importers of plastic containers or products marketed in such containers must be complied with as a compliance requirement for the importation and marketing of the products or containers in question in Brazil.

Key duties include:

• Structuring, implementing and operationalizing a reverse logistics system (either individual or collective).
• Declare compliance with the goal of recycled content in packaging.
• Imports made by importers that are not part of a management entity (collective model) will be subject to prior verification of compliance with the target related to the minimum recycled content incorporated into plastic packaging.
• Maintain updated information on the mass of packaging sold in the National Solid Waste Management Information System (Sinir) or in the black box system, depending on the chosen operation model.

_
Although the legal responsibility lies with the importer, the need for products and packaging to comply with Brazilian quality requirements and recycled content targets is a sine qua non condition for the customer to be able to import and market the goods in accordance with the Decree.