Brazil’s Congress Advances Ruralist Land Bills Reshaping Expropriation and Frontier Titles

Overview

• The Chamber approved PL 4357/2023 by 287–113 to bar agrarian reform expropriation of lands deemed productive, sending the bill to the Senate.
• The measure narrows the ‘social function’ test so expropriation applies only to properties that are both improductive and fail all constitutional criteria, with labor or environmental violations counting only after final court convictions, and it removes a clause tying compliance to absence of social conflict.
• Government-aligned deputies opposed the text, arguing it could shield areas with slave labor or environmental crimes, while ruralist leaders said it provides legal certainty and protects food production.
• A day earlier, the Senate passed PL 4.497/2024 to ratify state-issued titles in border strips for acquisitions up to October 23, 2015, giving owners 15 years to regularize and the Union five years to contest, and the amended text now returns to the Chamber.
• Key implementation issues remain under debate, including georeferencing start dates and size thresholds, and both proposals still require bicameral agreement, potential presidential action, and may face constitutional challenges.