Brazil’s CONAMA Standardizes Rules for Issuance of Authorizations for Suppression of Native Vegetation on Rural Properties

On September 16, 2025, Brazil’s National Environmental Council (CONAMA) published Resolution No. 510/2025, which establishes technical criteria, validity conditions, transparency, integration, and disclosure requirements related to the issuance of Authorizations for Suppression of Vegetation (ASVs) on rural properties.

The resolution sets out the minimum content of the authorizing act, requires the immediate availability of georeferenced data in open format, and strengthens the integration between state systems and the National System for the Control of the Origin of Forest Products (Sinaflor)/the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA).

Key Provisions of the Resolution

• Issuance via Sinaflor: ASVs must be issued through Sinaflor, or through state systems integrated into the platform and managed by IBAMA.
• Requirement of the CAR: The issuance and validity of the ASV depend on an active Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), free of pending administrative issues, with approval of the Legal Reserve location, confirmation of consolidated rural areas, and review completed by the competent authority. The standard maximum validity period is 12 months, renewable for an equal period.
• Priority review of the CAR and exceptional issuance: ASV requests will be given priority in CAR reviews. If the review is not concluded within 90 days, the ASV may be issued on an exceptional basis, with a substantiated technical justification and confirmation by a qualified professional that Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) and Legal Reserves have been observed.
• Municipal competence: In urban or consolidated urban-expansion areas, municipalities may issue ASVs for projects with local impacts, provided they demonstrate technical capacity, have a Municipal Environmental Council or equivalent deliberative body, and publish authorizations on Sinaflor and in an open data portal.
• Prohibitions: ASVs may not be issued (i) for areas linked to Environmental Reserve Quotas; (ii) for properties with suspended or canceled CAR registrations; or (iii) for properties without an active registration in the National Rural Registry System (SNCR).

The Resolution will take effect in March 2026 (180 days after publication). It also provides that ASVs issued up to five years prior to its entry into force must comply, whenever possible, with the transparency requirements established by the new regulation.

The Environmental, Climate Change and Sustainability Practice of Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown is available to provide further clarification on this matter.