H.E. Sonia Faustino Mendes, Brazil’s Vice-Minister for Communications, shares the country’s plans to improve the Post’s financial sustainability while reinforcing its role as a pillar of universal public service.
Union Postale: Brazil has faced mounting pressure to privatize the postal service due to financial hardships but remains firm on keeping this a public service. Can you explain your perspective on the social concept of the Post?H.E. Sonia Faustino Mendes: Brazil is a country of continental dimensions, marked by significant regional differences. Our challenges are equally substantial, and public policy must ensure that all citizens have access to the same opportunities. In this context, it is essential to have a postal network capable of enabling government institutions to reach everyone and deliver public services and citizenship to every Brazilian, regardless of whether they live in a major capital city or in a small rural community.
What we have observed is that, to this day, only Correios has been able to fulfill this role by maintaining a nationwide presence and close connection with citizens across the entire country. We believe this unique capacity and public mission should be preserved and strengthened. At the same time, Correios must continue to maintain a dynamic and outstanding commercial presence in the country's most relevant commercial corridors.
What are your short-, medium-, and long-term strategic priorities for postal restructuring and how will they help make Brazil's postal services financially sustainable?
The Ministry of Communications, as the government body of Correios, together with the Brazilian Government as a whole, is fully committed to supporting the restructuring plan that has been established. The first financial results are expected to emerge in 2026, paving the way for a more substantial recovery of the postal company beginning in 2027. This addresses the short-term outlook.
Looking further ahead, we are continuing to develop a new legal framework for postal regulation. This work will logically consider the role of the designated operator in implementing public policies, while also recognizing the existence of a broad, competitive market in which change occurs rapidly. Defining rules that ensure the right balance between the needs of the universal service and the dynamics of the competitive market is our greatest challenge.
The restructuring plan includes closing post offices and reducing staff. What specific measures are being taken to ensure that these cuts do not compromise service access or quality?
The list of postal facilities eligible for closure was developed based on a set of objective criteria established by the designated operator. These criteria, in turn, are guided by a few fundamental principles – one of which is the rule that requires the existence of at least one service unit per municipality, which is a goal of the postal universalization policy.
Accordingly, no municipality is losing access to Correios services because of the execution of the closure plan. In locations where there is only one branch, the Correios plan provides for a change in the service delivery model: the company-operated branch is replaced by a facility operated in partnership with the local municipal government, known as the “Correios Essencial (CEL)” branch. The company-operated branch is closed only after the CEL post unit has been established and is ready to provide service.
The “Correios Essencial” model represents a significant improvement over the previous partnership model offered to local communities. Under the new model, these facilities are integrated into the corporate network of Correios, expanding both the range and the quality of services available to the public. As a result, the compensation paid by Correios to municipal governments for the provision of postal services is also higher, making this solution more attractive for smaller municipalities.
How is the government reforming the regulatory framework to level the playing field between Correios and private operators? What consumer protections are being strengthened in parallel?
The regulatory model has not yet been definitively decided. However, we believe the most likely approach is to formally create a regulatory structure within the Ministry of Communications. This model already exists, for example, in the broadcasting sector, whose regulation is made at the ministerial level.
The postal regulatory unit would have responsibilities that go well beyond the Ministry's current role as the supervisory authority for Correios. The extent of these competencies and the form of action are still under study, based on benchmarking with other postal regulators and considering the characteristics of the Brazilian context.
In regulated postal markets, operators that use the universalization structure provided by the designated operator usually contribute to the financing mechanism for postal universalization implemented and maintained by the state. At the same time, this presupposes that the postal regulator has legal, regulatory, and administrative instruments to fully exercise its regulatory role. All these issues are currently under analysis and development within the Ministry of Communications and will be discussed through the appropriate channels once we have a robust proposal to present to society.
How is the Government enabling Correios to diversify into new service areas?
Within the scope of its responsibilities, the Ministry of Communications has closely monitored Correios’ efforts to diversify its portfolio, issuing, whenever necessary, the corresponding authorizations that enable the company to operate in areas such as logistics, electronic services, mobile telephony, and others.
We remain committed to ensuring legal certainty for the commercial and operational activities of Correios. For example, in May 2025, we managed to get a new Presidential Decree to be issued to regulate the Postal Law, enacted in 1978. This Postal Decree brought updated guidelines for Correios, removing some old barriers that limited the commercial performance of Correios, as they prevented the company from performing certain services or transporting certain types of items – limitations that no longer made sense in the current postal world.
In addition, in 2024, the Ministry of Communications worked on the issuance of a Presidential Decree establishing a preference for contracting Correios to provide non-exclusive postal services to federal public administration bodies. This rule provided legal guarantee to the processes of direct contracting of the designated operator and strengthens the performance of Correios as a logistics operator of many public policies at the government level.
Brazil was recognized as the regional champion for Latin America in the UPU's 2025 Integrated Index for Postal Development (2IPD), with particular strengths noted in international reach and resilience. At the same time, the index pointed to room for improvement in reliability and relevance. How has this assessment informed the government's approach to postal development?
We give great importance to the UPU studies, and the 2IPD is an element that we use in our analyses and in the planning of our performance as the body responsible for the postal public policy. Although Brazil was the regional leader in 2025, we recognize that the country's position in the global ranking does not yet reflect its full potential.
Naturally, our results are directly impacted by the performance of Correios. Although we still have challenges in 2026, our expectation is that the actions that are part of the restructuring plan and are being implemented throughout this year to recover the quality of services, diversify revenue sources and expand the company's operations, will have positive impacts on the 2027 index. Our goal is to see both Brazil's 2IPD score and its position in the global ranking improve year after year.
Brazil and India recently signed a memorandum of understanding on postal cooperation. Can you tell us more about the key areas of collaboration envisaged, what you hope to learn, what you hope to bring to the table?
Brazil and India are countries that share characteristics, challenges and opportunities. The rapprochement between the two countries is natural in different sectors and it would be no different regarding postal services.
International cooperation is one of the key pillars of the global postal sector, and we have been working to strengthen and formalize cooperation mechanisms with other countries. In the case of India, with whom we share the Presidency of Commission 1 of the UPU Council of Administration, we expect that the exchange of experiences and a better understanding of the specific characteristics of each country's postal market will allow the expansion of our postal exchanges, in particular with the development of initiatives to promote e-commerce between the two countries.
India has a recognized expertise around postal financial services, a sector that is not yet adequately explored by Correios in Brazil. On our side, we have experience in nationwide logistics projects that can be useful for a country of India's size and population. Our complementary strengths can lead to projects that benefit both our countries and the international postal community.
How have discussions at the UPU level informed Brazil’s approach to navigating challenges and harnessing opportunities facing the Post?
As mentioned earlier, we attach great importance to UPU studies. Although the Union does not interfere directly in the domestic postal market of its members, the trends it signals at the international level end up having national repercussions.
In addition, many of the challenges we face in Brazil have already been – or are still being – faced by other countries, and they shape the work of the UPU. An example of this is the reduction in mail volumes due to digital substitution and the challenge of maintaining the designated operator's market share in the parcel sector, despite the growth of this segment.
For this reason, we have sought to follow all UPU discussions, both at the governmental/regulatory level and at the operational level. In fact, this is one of the main motivations behind our candidacy for the Council of Administration (CA) and the Postal Operations Council (POC) during the Dubai cycle. In our view, we cannot build solutions in isolation without knowing what is happening in the world around us.
The UPU is the natural forum for exchanging experiences, seeking inspiration and support, and sharing knowledge. Although it is a multilateral organization, the UPU and its institutions also favor bilateral cooperation and, in turn, bilateral relations also strengthen the UPU's actions.
I would also like to emphasize the important role that the UPU, and the regional unions have in supporting their member countries. In the case of Brazil, we see as very positive the fact that the actions of the UPU and our regional union, the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP), are increasingly coordinated and that there is a very close collaboration between the two organizations.
Is there anything you would like to add?
I would like to emphasize that, in line with Brazil's position in the discussions led by the UPU, the Brazilian Ministry of Communications has incorporated issues related to sustainability and gender equality into its strategic agendas. These initiatives are based on our conviction that the strengthening of the postal sector and digital transformation must be aligned with the principles of sustainable development and the expansion of opportunities for women in the sector.
In this context, the Ministry develops sustainability policies based on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 12, promoting initiatives focused on the proper disposal of electronic waste, computer reconditioning digital and social inclusion, while contributing to the advancement of the environmental, social, and governance agenda in Brazil.
Finally, I would like to thank the UPU for the opportunity to present this overview of the postal sector in Brazil and reiterate the support of the Brazilian Ministry of Communications for the UPU and its fundamental role as a catalyst for international postal cooperation, in its regulatory, operational, and commercial dimensions, in collaboration with regional unions. The many challenges that the sector faces require an active and effective UPU, and Brazil is willing to contribute so that the dialogues and discussions within the Union produce meaningful outcomes for the benefit of the global postal community.
This article first appeared in Union Postale Spring/Summer 2026.