Brazil

Decree-Law 4,146 of 1942 places Brazil's fossil deposits under the protection of the state and requires authorisation from the national mining authority (now the Agência Nacional de Mineração) for extraction; the 1988 constitution and later regulation treat fossils as federal property, and export for commercial purposes is not allowed. The Crato and Santana (Romualdo) formation fish, pterosaurs, insects and plants of the Araripe Basin that fill collections abroad were exported illegally, mostly in the 1980s–2000s.

Brazil has pursued repatriation with growing success: the Ubirajara holotype was returned by Germany in 2023 after a public campaign, and Brazilian researchers routinely challenge publications on Araripe material held abroad. Museums and journals now ask for export documentation before accepting or describing Brazilian specimens.

For collectors and dealers: Araripe fish plates (Rhacolepis, Vinctifer, Dastilbe) are everywhere in the trade and cheap, and they are unexportable material. A specimen with a documented pre-1942 or otherwise authorised history is the rare exception. Describe the origin honestly, record the acquisition, and know that a museum will not take it.

Brazilian minerals and agates are exported legally under mineral law; the problem is fossils. Amber from Brazil is not a trade item.