# Law No. 2869 of September 17, 1956

> Brazilian law

**Wikidata**: [Q105649687](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105649687)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/law-no-2869-of-september-17-1956

## Summary
Law No. 2869 of September 17, 1956 is a Brazilian statute promulgated by President Juscelino Kubitschek that establishes regulations concerning tariffs, import taxes, and related customs procedures. This federal law, published in Rio de Janeiro, represents a formal written instrument creating legal norms governing foreign merchandise, tax exemptions, and customs installations in Brazil.

## Key Facts
- **Full Title:** Lei nº 2869, de 17 de setembro de 1956
- **Legal Citation:** Lei nº 2869/1956
- **Publication Date:** September 17, 1956
- **Place of Publication:** Rio de Janeiro
- **Country of Origin:** Brazil
- **Jurisdiction:** Applies throughout Brazil
- **Promulgated By:** Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil
- **Promulgating President:** Juscelino Kubitschek (on September 17, 1956)
- **Determination Method:** Promulgation
- **Legal Classification:** Instance of a statute (formal written document that creates law)
- **Language:** Brazilian Portuguese
- **Primary Subjects:** Tariff (Taxa Aduaneira), import tax (Imposto De Importação), recruitment of foreign merchandise (Mercadoria Estrangeira), creation/installation (Instalação), and tax exemption (Isenção)
- **LexML Brazil ID:** urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-09-17;2869
- **Official URL:** Available at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l2869.htm
- **Wikimedia Project:** Part of WikiProject Brazilian Laws
- **Copyright Status:** As a statute, it is in the public domain in the United States and France under the edict of government doctrine
- **Structured Data Equivalent:** Equivalent to https://schema.org/Legislation
- **Dewey Decimal Classification:** 342.057 and 348.02 (for statutes generally)

## FAQs
**What is Law No. 2869 of September 17, 1956?**
Law No. 2869 is a Brazilian federal statute from 1956 that creates legal provisions governing customs tariffs, import taxes, and related matters. It is a formal written document promulgated by President Juscelino Kubitschek that establishes the framework for taxing foreign merchandise and regulating customs installations in Brazil.

**What specific areas does this law regulate?**
The law addresses five main areas: customs tariffs (Taxa Aduaneira), import taxes (Imposto De Importação), the entry and recruitment of foreign merchandise into Brazilian territory, the creation and installation of customs facilities, and provisions for tax exemptions (Isenção).

**Who signed this law into effect and where was it published?**
President Juscelino Kubitschek promulgated the law on September 17, 1956, through the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil. It was officially published in Rio de Janeiro, which served as the capital of Brazil until 1960.

**How can researchers and citizens access the full text of Law No. 2869?**
The complete text is publicly available through the official Brazilian government portal at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l2869.htm. The law is also cataloged in the LexML system with the identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-09-17;2869.

**What type of legal instrument is this law?**
Law No. 2869 is classified as a statute, which is a formal written document that creates law. As a statute, it is a subclass of written work and document, serving as the concrete manifestation of statutory law in Brazil's legal system.

## Why It Matters
Law No. 2869 of September 17, 1956 matters because it established foundational customs and import taxation regulations that shaped Brazil's trade policy framework during a pivotal period of national development. Enacted during Juscelino Kubitschek's presidency—a time known for ambitious infrastructure projects and economic modernization—the law provided the statutory basis for controlling foreign merchandise flow and generating revenue through customs duties. Its provisions on tariffs and import taxes directly impacted Brazil's balance of trade and protected domestic industries by regulating how foreign goods entered the national market. The law's inclusion of tax exemption clauses created mechanisms for incentivizing specific imports or supporting particular economic sectors, giving policymakers flexible tools to respond to changing economic conditions. As part of Brazil's statutory framework, it contributed to the institutionalization of customs procedures that would govern international commerce for decades. The law's availability through modern digital portals and its inclusion in WikiProject Brazilian Laws demonstrates its enduring relevance as a historical document and potential precedent for contemporary trade legislation. Its existence as a publicly accessible statute reinforces the principle that citizens and businesses should have transparent access to the laws governing commercial transactions and customs obligations.

## Notable For
- **Presidential Promulgation:** Specifically promulgated by President Juscelino Kubitschek on September 17, 1956, placing it within a historically significant administration
- **Multi-Subject Statute:** Uniquely addresses five distinct but related subjects in a single legislative act: tariffs, import taxes, foreign merchandise recruitment, customs installation, and tax exemptions
- **Rio de Janeiro Publication:** Published in Rio de Janeiro, making it one of the last major statutes issued in the former capital before the administrative shift to Brasília in 1960
- **LexML Cataloging:** Bears the LexML Brazil identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-09-17;2869, placing it within Brazil's official legislative markup language system
- **Wikimedia Project Inclusion:** Part of WikiProject Brazilian Laws, indicating active documentation and curation within the Wikimedia ecosystem
- **Public Domain Status:** Exempt from copyright restrictions as an official government edict, ensuring free public access and reproduction
- **Schema.org Equivalence:** Serves as a real-world instance of the https://schema.org/Legislation class, making it relevant for semantic web applications
- **Customs Framework:** Establishes comprehensive customs regulations that likely influenced subsequent Brazilian trade policy and import control mechanisms
- **Digital Accessibility:** Available through the Planalto.gov.br portal in the 1950-1969 legislative archive, demonstrating Brazil's commitment to digital transparency

## Body

### Legal Classification and Identity
Law No. 2869 of September 17, 1956 is formally classified as a statute, which represents a foundational category of legal instruments in Brazil and globally. As a statute, it functions as a formal written document that creates law, distinct from abstract legal concepts and representing the concrete manifestation of statutory law. This classification places the law within a taxonomy that includes acts passed by legislatures, executive orders, and by-laws, though this specific instrument is a federal law (lei federal) enacted through presidential promulgation. The document is an instance of a written work and a legal rule, composed of legal norms that collectively establish binding obligations and procedures for customs and taxation matters. Its status as a statute means it is generally considered public domain material in jurisdictions like the United States and France, where the edict of government doctrine prohibits copyright protection for official legislative enactments. The law is cataloged under Dewey Decimal classifications 342.057 and 348.02, which correspond to statutory law and legislation respectively.

### Promulgation and Publication Details
The law was officially promulgated on September 17, 1956, by the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil under President Juscelino Kubitschek. The promulgation process represents the final step in the legislative journey, transforming a draft bill into binding law. The specific determination method was formal promulgation, executed in Rio de Janeiro, which served as Brazil's capital until the inauguration of Brasília in 1960. This geographic detail is significant, as the law was published in one of the final years of Rio de Janeiro's status as the federal seat of government. The official publication date coincides exactly with the promulgation date, indicating immediate effect upon presidential signature. The law's citation format—Lei nº 2869/1956—follows Brazilian legislative conventions where the number and year provide a unique identifier.

### Subject Matter and Provisions
Law No. 2869 addresses a cluster of interrelated customs and trade subjects, making it a comprehensive rather than narrowly focused statute. The primary subjects include:
- **Tariff (Taxa Aduaneira):** Establishing the legal framework for customs duties applied to imported goods
- **Import Tax (Imposto De Importação):** Creating or modifying taxes levied on foreign merchandise entering Brazilian territory
- **Foreign Merchandise Recruitment:** Regulating the process by which foreign goods are brought into Brazil, with the qualifier "import" explicitly attached to this subject
- **Installation (Instalação):** Addressing the creation and establishment of customs facilities and infrastructure
- **Tax Exemption (Isenção):** Providing mechanisms for exempting certain imports or entities from customs duties and taxes

These subjects indicate the law's role in shaping Brazil's import policy, customs administration, and revenue generation from international trade during the mid-1950s.

### Documentation and Access Infrastructure
The law is extensively documented across multiple Brazilian and international systems. It carries the LexML Brazil identifier urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-09-17;2869, which follows the URN:Lex standard for legislative identifiers. The full text is publicly accessible through the official Planalto government portal at https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/1950-1969/l2869.htm, specifically archived within the 1950-1969 legislative collection. This digital availability ensures that researchers, legal professionals, and citizens can consult the original text without restriction. The law is also tracked within Wikimedia's WikiProject Brazilian Laws, a collaborative effort to document and improve coverage of Brazilian legislation across Wikimedia projects. This project inclusion suggests active community interest in maintaining accurate information about the statute.

### Jurisdictional and Linguistic Context
As a federal law, Law No. 2869 applies to the entire jurisdiction of Brazil, a country that declared independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822, and today operates as a federal republic. The law is written in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil and a variant of Portuguese that has evolved distinct characteristics since the colonial period. Brazil's capital was in Rio de Janeiro at the time of the law's publication, before the planned city of Brasília became the administrative center on April 22, 1960. The law's applicability across Brazil's 26 states and Federal District demonstrates its status as federal legislation rather than state or municipal law.

### Identifier and Authority Control
The statute is embedded within multiple authority control systems that facilitate its discovery and citation. It is assigned the legal citation Lei nº 2869/1956, which serves as its primary reference format in Brazilian legal practice. The LexML URN provides a persistent identifier for digital retrieval. While the source material does not provide specific Library of Congress or GND identifiers for this individual law, it inherits the general classification properties of statutes, which typically carry authority IDs such as Library of Congress sh85127611 and GND 4020660-9 for the concept of statutes broadly. The law's inclusion in structured data projects makes it equivalent to the schema.org/Legislation class, enabling its representation in knowledge graphs and semantic web applications.

### Historical and Administrative Significance
The law's enactment in 1956 places it within the early years of Juscelino Kubitschek's presidency, a period characterized by the "Plano de Metas" (Target Plan) that emphasized rapid industrialization and infrastructure development. While the source material does not explicitly connect the law to this broader policy framework, the focus on customs regulation and import taxation would have been essential tools for managing the flow of foreign goods and capital during an era of intense developmental ambitions. The law's publication in Rio de Janeiro marks it as a product of the old capital's administrative apparatus, before the transfer of federal functions to Brasília. Its continued availability through modern digital archives demonstrates the continuity of Brazilian legal institutions and the commitment to preserving historical legislative records for contemporary reference.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.lexml.gov.br/urn/urn:lex:br:federal:lei:1956-09-17;2869)
2. [Source](https://legislacao.presidencia.gov.br/atos?tipo=LEI&numero=2869&ano=1956&data=17/09/1956&ato=fdeoXS650dNRVTb87)