Brazilian communications ministry concludes mail privatization bill

Brazil's communications ministry has concluded the general bill for the privatization of state-owned mail service Correios.

Minister Fábio Faria (pictured) delivered the bill to privatize and reorganize Correios to Jorge Oliveira, head of the general secretariat of the presidency.

The text will be now be analyzed by the legal affairs department of that agency and the presidency's office of the chief of staff before being submitted to congress for discussion and voting.

The proposal reportedly guarantees the provision of mail services throughout Brazilian territory.

"One thing that must be very clear is that whoever receives letters, bills and products by post anywhere in the country will continue to receive them. I am sure that the national congress will work in that direction," said Faria.

The bill allows services provided under the scope of the national mail service to be operated privately, but respecting article 21 of the constitution, said the minister. That article states that the union of Brazilian states has the power to “maintain the postal service and national air mail.”

According to the ministry, operations will be delegated to an assigned postal operator, but the "maintenance" of the service would remain in the hands of the federal government.

OPPOSITION TO PRIVATIZATION

Despite the preparations, the path to privatize the mail service will not be simple.

Brazilian lawmaker André Figueiredo, formerly communications minister in Dilma Rousseff’s government, presented a bill to block the privatization of the state-owned service. 

Opposition parties are also trying to build support against the sale of Correios.

Figueiredo's bill is intended to amend law 9,074 from 1998, which permits the concession of postal services. The lawmaker claims that this law is unconstitutional, basing his argument on a supreme court ruling from 2009 that established that the mail service is mandatory and exclusively the responsibility of the state through public company ECT-Correios.

According to Figueiredo, the ruling allows private transport companies to deliver certain orders and products, but limits the delivery of personal letters, postcards and other correspondence to Correios.

NEW COMMUNICATIONS REGULATOR

In addition to the privatization of Correios, the bill drafted by the communications ministry outlines the creation of a new regulator. 

The national communications agency (Anacom) would replace existing national telecommunications agency Anatel, which was created following the privatization of Brazil's telecom systems in 1997.

The expanded watchdog would be responsible for overseeing not only telecoms but also the operation of the new national mail service.

TECHNICAL STUDIES

Although the privatization bill has now been drafted, business-modelling studies for the privatization of Correios are still being prepared, according to the ministry. These studies are expected to support the debate in congress. 

The consultancy responsible for these studies was hired by development bank BNDES. It is a consortium headed by Accenture, which was awarded the contract in August.

Picture source: Ministério das Comunicações