Federal Government launches System of Public Integrity of the Federal Executive Branch (“Sipef”)

On July 27, 2021, the Federal Government created the System of Public Integrity of the Federal Executive Branch (“Sipef”), through a presidential decree issued by President Jair Bolsonaro. Sipef will coordinate and articulate the activities related to public integrity in the federal executive branch, in addition to establishing standards for integrity measures adopted by agencies and entities of the public administration.

The main objective of the new system, according to the Office of the Comptroller General (“CGU”), is to increase the effectiveness of the integrity programs of ministries, independent government agencies and public foundations, resulting in increased prevention of acts of corruption in Brazil.

This is an important measure in preventing acts of corruption by the Federal Public Administration and aims to improve the business environment for companies that sell to the government.

According to information made available by the CGU:

1 – Sipef will be composed by CGU, which will act as the system’s central agency, and sectoral units (Integrity Management Units), which are responsible for integrity management within  agencies and entities.

2 – CGU will have normative attribution and technical supervision over the integrity programs adopted and managed by the organs and entities.

3 – The formalization of Sipef marks CGU’s compliance with Action 27 of the Federal Government’s Anti-Corruption Plan, which was launched in December 2020. The Plan aims to structure and implement actions to improve, within the federal executive branch, mechanisms for prevention, detection and accountability for acts of corruption, while advancing compliance with and improvement of anti-corruption legislation and meeting international recommendations.