Law No. 14,442/2022 changed the scenario for contracting services for administration, management, issuance, and provision of food and meal vouchers, especially for entities in the S System, which employ employees under the CLT and can join the Workers' Food Program (PAT). The rule prohibited the practice of discounts and reinforced the prepaid nature of the benefit, requiring that contracts consider new judgment criteria and mechanisms to maintain competitiveness. This article examines the challenges introduced by the law, highlighting the impact on the traditional bidding model, the need to incorporate additional tiebreaker criteria, the adoption of accreditation, and compliance with the provisions of Law No. 14,133/2021 in a subsidiary manner to the Bidding and Contract Regulations of entities in the S System. The analysis is supported by judgments of the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU), which elucidate the necessary adaptations for entities in the S System.
1. Introduction
The contracting of food and meal voucher iraq telegram data administration and supply services has always played a central role in the routine of companies. Historically, these bidding processes favored the greatest economic advantage through broad competition between suppliers, often using the lowest price or lowest administrative fee criteria. In this context, it was not uncommon to use discounts (negative rates) as a strategy to win bids, resulting in reduced costs for contracting entities.
With the enactment of Law No. 14,442/2022, the logic behind these contracts underwent a significant change. The new legislation, by prohibiting discounts and imposing the maintenance of the prepaid nature of food assistance, requires managers to carefully review the formatting of the notices, the judgment criteria and the tiebreaker tools. The central objective is now to simultaneously ensure broad competitiveness and strict compliance with the rules, avoiding artificial ties and practices that are contrary to the spirit of the law.
The relevance of the topic and the importance of the adjustments emerge from recent decisions by external control bodies, notably the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU). Through emblematic decisions, these Courts of Auditors analyzed specific cases of bidding processes carried out by entities of the S System, registered in the PAT, as having employees under the CLT, offering guidance on the legality, competitiveness, equality and cost-effectiveness of these contracts.
This article aims to present and discuss the challenges imposed by Law No. 14,442/2022, as well as to systematize the main guidelines resulting from the TCU rulings. The aim is to offer a set of technical subsidies so that entities of the S System can reformulate their bidding procedures, adapting to the new legal and jurisprudential guidelines, ensuring the integrity of the process, maintaining competitiveness and the advantageous nature of the contracting of food and meal voucher services.
2. Regulatory Context: Law No. 14,442/2022 and the Workers’ Food Program
The Workers' Food Program (PAT) was instituted by Law No. 6,321, of April 14, 1976, regulated by Decree No. 10,854, of November 10, 2021, and supplemented by the provisions of MTP/GM Ordinance No. 672, of November 8, 2021. Aimed primarily at low-income workers, the PAT is jointly managed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Special Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil, of the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Health, with the objective of improving the nutritional, health and productivity conditions of these workers .
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