BR pet food RDC 26 overview

Brazil's pet food registration framework per USDA GAIN reports BR2024-0015 and BR2026-0001: oversight sits with MAPA (Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock). Historically all animal food products required registration; pet food was later exempted from mandatory registration under MAPA risk analysis provisions, and MAPA continues to approve formulas and monitor compliance through product identity analysis and label-content checks. Therapeutic pet food ("coadjuvant" food with therapeutical characteristics) was exempted from registration conditional on minimum requirements, and companies may optionally register a product as an "innovation product" to protect special characteristics (registration valid 5 years; industry has requested 10). In late 2018/early 2019 responsibility for animal food moved to MAPA/DIPOA (Department of Inspection of Animal Origin Products). Most recently, Decree 12031 (May 28, 2024) revised registration processes across the animal-product chain, and DIPOA issued updated establishment-registration guidance on July 7, 2025; imported products need both plant registration and label registration (PGA-SIGSIF) before shipping. Earlier drafts citing a "Rio Grande do Sul State law 6.198/1974", "MAPA IN 04/2007" or "ANVISA RDC 26/2015" as the framework basis are not supported by these sources. Market context: the Brazilian pet industry generated R$ 47.01 billion (US$ 9.42 billion) in 2023 (+12% vs 2022), with pet food at 78% of revenue.