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Investment protection and investor state disputes in Brazil: no ICSID, cooperation and facilitation agreements and contract arbitration

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Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Brazil is not among the 166 signatories of the ICSID Convention, and its investment agreements follow its own Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreement (CFIA) model, which offers ombudsmen and state to state dispute prevention rather than investor claims for damages. Under that model, a dispute goes first to a joint committee that must meet within 90 days and report within 120 days; only then can the two states arbitrate, and the tribunal cannot award compensation. For foreign investors the practical protection is therefore contractual: arbitration clauses in private contracts and, in public contracts and concessions, arbitration with the administration under the Arbitration Law, the 2021 Procurement Law and sector rules.

USD figures use the Banco Central do Brasil PTAX selling rate of R$5.3346 per US dollar for 27 October 2026. The real moved sharply in late October (R$5.0377 on 23 October and R$5.5007 on 26 October), so conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Party to the ICSID Convention	No ICSID/3 list of 17 July 2026, as of 2026-07-17 · in force
Brazil's investment agreement model	Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreement (ACFI), state to state Decreto nº 12.666/2025, as of 2025-10-13 · in force
Investor state claims for compensation under the ACFI model	Not available; state to state tribunal awards no compensation Brazil India ACFI art. 19.2, as of 2025-10-13 · in force
Days for the ACFI Joint Committee to meet after a dispute prevention request	90 daysBrazil India ACFI art. 18.2 a, as of 2025-10-13 · in force
Intra Mercosur Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Protocol in force for Brazil	2019-07-30 dateDecreto nº 10.027/2019, as of 2019-09-25 · in force

The rule

1. Brazil has not signed the ICSID Convention: it does not appear on ICSID's official list of the 166 signatory states as of 17 July 2026. Investor state arbitration under the ICSID Convention is therefore not available against Brazil. Argentina, by comparison, signed on 21 May 1991 and the Convention entered into force for it on 18 November 1994.ICSID Convention (Washington, 1965), not signed by Brazil, ICSID/3 List of Contracting States and Other Signatories (17 July 2026), 2026-07-17 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Brazil's investment agreements follow the Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreement (ACFI) model. The agreement with India, signed on 25 January 2020 and in force for Brazil from 21 December 2025, is a recent example: each party names a single National Focal Point or Ombudsman to support the other party's investors, a role performed in Brazil by the Executive Secretariat of the Foreign Trade Chamber (CAMEX), and the decree promulgating it confirms that investors' funds related to an investment may be transferred freely and without discrimination under applicable procedures.Decreto nº 12.666 of 13 October 2025 (promulgates the Brazil India Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Agreement), Decreto art. 1 and sole paragraph; Agreement arts. 14.1 and 14.2, 2025-10-13 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. Disputes under the ACFI model are handled between states. A party that considers a measure of the other to breach the agreement starts a dispute prevention procedure in the Joint Committee, which must meet within 90 days of the request and has 120 days from its first meeting (extendable by agreement) to report; representatives of an affected investor may be invited. If the dispute is not resolved, either state may submit it to an ad hoc arbitral tribunal, whose purpose is to decide on the interpretation of and compliance with the agreement; for greater certainty, the tribunal does not award compensation.Decreto nº 12.666 of 13 October 2025 (Brazil India ACFI), Agreement arts. 18.1, 18.2 letters a, b and d, 18.3, 19.1 and 19.2, 2025-10-13 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Within Mercosur, the Intra Mercosur Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Protocol, signed in Buenos Aires on 7 April 2017, entered into force for Brazil on 30 July 2019. It covers investments made before or after its entry into force by investors of one member in another, with a National Focal Point, a dispute prevention procedure in the Mercosur Commission and, if that fails, state to state settlement under Mercosur's dispute mechanisms. It can be invoked only within 5 years of when the state knew or should have known of the facts, and a dispute taken through it cannot then be submitted to arbitration under a bilateral investment treaty.Decreto nº 10.027 of 25 September 2019 (promulgates the Intra Mercosur Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Protocol), Decreto preamble and art. 1; Protocol arts. 2.1, 23 and 24.1, 24.2 and 24.4, 2019-09-25 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Contract arbitration with the state is available. The direct and indirect public administration may arbitrate disputes over disposable property rights, always at law and in public. Contracts under the 2021 Procurement Law may use conciliation, mediation, dispute boards and arbitration, for example on economic and financial rebalancing, contractual breach by either party and the calculation of indemnities, and existing contracts may be amended to add them. Federal port and road, rail, waterway and airport concessions follow a specific decree: Brazilian law, seat in Brazil, Portuguese language, a chamber accredited by the Attorney General's Office (AGU), at least 60 days for the initial answer and up to 24 months for the award.
Cost to do it: Under Decreto nº 10.025 art. 9 the private contractor advances the arbitral institution's costs and the arbitrators' fees, reimbursed as the final award decides.Lei nº 9.307 of 23 September 1996, as amended by Lei nº 13.129 of 26 May 2015; Lei nº 14.133 of 1 April 2021 (Procurement Law); Decreto nº 10.025 of 20 September 2019, Lei nº 9.307 arts. 1 § 1 and 2 § 3; Lei nº 14.133 arts. 151 to 154; Decreto nº 10.025 arts. 2, 3 and 8, 2021-04-01 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Route	Who brings it	Remedy	Source
ICSID arbitration	Not available	None	ICSID/3 list, 17 July 2026
ACFI dispute prevention (for example Brazil India)	The investor's home state	Joint Committee report, then state to state arbitration without compensation	Decreto nº 12.666 arts. 18 and 19
Mercosur protocol	The investor's home state	Commission procedure, then Mercosur dispute mechanisms	Decreto nº 10.027 arts. 23 and 24
Contract arbitration with the administration	The investor	Binding award, paid through precatório or small claim requisition	Lei nº 9.307 art. 1 § 1; Lei nº 14.133 art. 151; Decreto nº 10.025
Domestic courts (mandado de segurança, ordinary actions)	The investor	Annulment of acts, damages, paid through precatório	See the claims against the state page

Where a foreign investor in Brazil can take a dispute with the state.

Worked example

An Indian logistics group with a Brazilian subsidiary faces a sudden licensing measure it considers discriminatory. It first raises the issue with the CAMEX ombudsman (Decreto nº 12.666, Agreement art. 14). If unresolved, India can request dispute prevention in the Joint Committee, which meets within 90 days and reports within 120 days, and the group's representatives can be heard (art. 18). A later state to state award can declare a breach but cannot order compensation (art. 19.2), so the group also reviews whether its concession contract allows arbitration with the administration.

Step by step

1. Do not plan around ICSID or treaty damages claims; build protection into contracts.
2. In concessions and public contracts, check whether an arbitration clause exists or can be added by amendment (Lei nº 14.133 art. 153; Decreto nº 10.025 art. 5 § 3).
3. Structure through a home state that has an ACFI with Brazil if ombudsman access matters, and confirm the agreement's entry into force decree.
4. Use the ombudsman early, and document the measure and its effect for any later state to state procedure.
5. Note the 5 year window under the Mercosur protocol (art. 24.2) and that using it bars later BIT arbitration on the same dispute (art. 24.4).

Common traps

Assuming a Brazilian treaty gives investor state arbitration with damages: the ACFI tribunal awards no compensation (Brazil India ACFI art. 19.2).
Counting on ICSID enforcement of an award against Brazil: Brazil is not on the ICSID list.
Arbitrating a federal transport or port concession dispute outside the decree's conditions (Brazilian law, seat in Brazil, Portuguese, AGU accredited chamber) (Decreto nº 10.025 art. 3).
Expecting confidentiality in arbitration with the administration, which must be public (Lei nº 9.307 art. 2 § 3; Lei nº 14.133 art. 152).

Sources

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