President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decree on Monday (24), at a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasília, regulating the Express Purchases System (Sicx), an e-commerce platform that will let federal, state and municipal agencies buy standardized goods and services without a bidding process. At the same event, the government formalized the adhesion of state-owned companies, public banks and the INSS, Brazil's national social security institute, to the Contrata+Brasil program, which channels public contracts to individual micro-entrepreneurs (MEIs, a Brazilian legal category for one-person businesses), according to reports by Poder360 and Agência Brasil.
Created by Law 15,266, sanctioned on November 21, 2025 from a congressional initiative with government support in the final drafting, Sicx will work as a public marketplace: approved suppliers register product offers, and any government agency will be able to buy directly through the platform. The decree regulates supplier registration, price formation, delivery deadlines and payment rules, and provides for a permanent digital credential integrated with the Unified Registry (RCU), expected to launch in the last quarter of 2026. Management and Innovation Minister Esther Dweck said the model should cut purchasing processes that now drag on for months down to a few days, and that the system will be auditable and monitored by oversight bodies, according to Poder360. The economic team describes Sicx as an updated version of the price registration framework already used for purchases without bidding.
As he regulated the system, Lula argued that public money should circulate within the municipalities themselves. "You earn in your city, in your community, you spend in your community, you develop your community and everyone will live better," the president said, according to Poder360.
Contrata+Brasil expansion
The event also marked the expansion of Contrata+Brasil, a platform launched in February 2025 that allows direct contracts of up to R$ 13,000 with service providers, without intermediaries. Signing adhesion terms were Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) and the ministries of Education, Social Security, Health and Agriculture, as well as Banco do Brasil, Banco do Nordeste, Caixa Econômica Federal, the postal service Correios and Petrobras, according to Poder360. According to the Management Ministry, the entry of these institutions could raise the number of registered contracting bodies on the platform from 2,000 to 15,000. The platform currently lists opportunities in 272 economic activities.
The INSS formalized its adhesion with the signature of Social Security Minister Wolney Queiroz. According to the ministry, the institute will use the platform to hire maintenance and small repair services for its executive offices and social security agencies across the country. About 5.9 million MEIs can currently be hired through the system, and entrepreneurs must be up to date with their social security contributions, which, in the ministry's assessment, encourages formalization.
The government also wants to encourage use of the platform in purchases made by public schools with funds from the Direct Money in Schools Program (PDDE), which serves about 109,000 schools, Agência Brasil reported. Brazil has 13.7 million active MEIs, but only a small share sell to the government: Sebrae data cited by the government show that 51.6% of micro-entrepreneurs are interested in selling to public agencies, while just 13.6% have ever closed a deal with the public administration.