The Federal Senate has approved the ANP’s access to tax data, intensifying the fight against fraud in the fuel market and promoting greater transparency and fair competition.
The Federal Senate took a significant step to strengthen oversight in the fuel sector with the vote on Complementary Bill (PLP) 109/2025. This measure aims to equip the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) with more robust tools, allowing access to electronic tax information and cross-referencing this data with the databases of the Federal Revenue Service and state finance secretariats (Sefaz).
The proposal, which had already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies in April and received a favorable opinion from the Senate’s Infrastructure Committee, promises to transform how the fuel market is monitored.
The main innovation of PLP 109/2025 lies in the integration between the regulatory and tax spheres. By allowing the ANP to access documents such as Electronic Invoices (NF-e), Electronic Consumer Invoices (NFC-e), and Electronic Freight Bills (CT-e), the agency gains an unprecedented ability to identify inconsistencies and irregularities throughout the entire production and distribution chain, from refining to final resale.
A New Paradigm in Oversight
The integration of databases represents a technological and strategic advancement in combating fraud. The ability to compare traded volumes with declared movements and operations registered by agents will allow the ANP to detect atypical trading patterns, which often indicate illicit practices.
The link between access to tax information and the maintenance of operating authorizations for economic agents is one of the most transformative aspects.
According to the approved text, agents will be required to pre-authorize the opening of their tax databases to the ANP as a condition for maintaining their operating authorizations. This requirement changes the dynamics of oversight, incorporating tax information directly into regulatory activity and expanding the agency’s analytical capacity regarding operations potentially incompatible with declared volumes and flows.
Direct Combat Against Fraud and Unfair Competition
The initiative gains prominence in the context of various anti-fraud operations in the sector, such as Operation Hidden Carbon. The clear objective is to reduce opacity in a market that moves trillions of reais, where tax irregularities can generate unfair competitive advantages for those operating outside the law.
The cross-referencing of tax documents with regulatory data not only directs inspections more efficiently but also strengthens the trend of using regulatory intelligence and data analysis, replacing mere document checks with an an integrated analysis model.
The National Union of Fuel Distributors (Sindicom), through its executive president, Augusto Salomon, expressed support for the proposal. The expectation is that facilitated access to tax information will accelerate the identification of irregular operations, reduce competitive distortions, and, ultimately, benefit consumers through a more transparent and fair market.
The Future of Regulation
The approval of PLP 109/2025 by the Senate marks a crucial stage. If the text remains without significant changes, it will proceed to presidential sanction. Subsequently, the ANP will need to regulate the operational procedures for accessing, processing, and utilizing this data, always with due preservation of the confidentiality of the shared information.
This legislative change, occurring during a period of increasing pressure for greater oversight in the fuel chain, promises to be one of the main tools for identifying operational inconsistencies and curbing unfair competitive practices based on tax and commercial irregularities.
The clean and sustainable energy sector, indirectly, also benefits from a more honest and transparent market environment that discourages fraud and strengthens investor and consumer confidence.
