RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The São Paulo government filed a petition in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on Friday, December 10, to demand that a vaccine passport be required for foreigners entering Brazil through the state.
The Brazilian health regulatory agency (ANVISA) recommended the measure nationally, but President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and Minister of Justice and Public Safety Anderson Torres have opposed it.
According to the state government, the state Prosecutor General’s Office (PGE) has asked that the request be included in the lawsuit on the matter filed by the Rede Sustentabilidade political party in late November. The case rapporteur is Justice Luís Roberto Barroso.
With the endorsement of the Covid-19 Scientific Committee in the state, governor João Doria had already called on the Ministry of Health and said that as of December 15 he will demand the document in case the federal government does not make it mandatory nationwide.
“Brazil cannot be a denialists’ paradise. This is our right, although physically owned by the federal government and administered by Infraero [the airports], but the São Paulo state territory is the responsibility of the São Paulo state government. The same applies to the ports,” Doria said at a press conference on Wednesday, December 8.
Most legal experts, however, do not believe that states have the power to regulate travelers from abroad, as this is considered the exclusive province of the federal government.