Venezuela: Organic Law Streamlining and Optimizing Administrative Procedures

In brief

The Organic Law on the Streamlining and Optimization of Administrative Procedures (“Law”) was published and entered into force on 8 April 2026¹. The Law establishes a public policy regulatory framework aimed at accelerating and optimizing the Government’s administrative procedures and processes by eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic burdens, digitizing processes, and granting the National Executive broad powers to suspend, modify, or eliminate administrative procedures, permits, and requirements.

The Law repeals all regulations and provisions that contradict its content and eliminates the National Institute for the Efficient Management of Procedures and Permits, ordering its liquidation.

Key conclusions

The Law is formally directed at the Public Administration, but its implementation has direct effects on businesses and individuals, including (i) the potential reduction of deadlines and requirements in administrative procedures, (ii) the mandatory digitization of procedures currently conducted in person, and (iii) the modification or elimination of permits, authorizations, or requirements established in sub-legal regulations, and even in laws, through decrees of the National Executive.

However, the specific scope of these effects will depend on the decrees and specific measures adopted in its implementation.

In detail

Below are the most relevant aspects of the Law:

1. Purpose, objective, and principles: The purpose of the Law is to establish the regulatory framework for implementing mechanisms that allow for streamlining and optimization of administrative procedures, with the aim of reducing response times to requests from individuals.
   Its provisions are governed, among others, by the principles of simplicity, streamlining, efficiency, transparency, legality, accountability, and public participation, ensuring legal certainty, the possibility of correcting errors, and the presumption of good faith on the part of citizens.
2. Declaration of public order: The streamlining and optimization of administrative procedures and processes are declared matters of public order and general interest. In this regard, public officials must act ex officio and ensure compliance with the Law.
3. Powers of the National Executive: The Law grants the President broad powers to adopt measures aimed at simplifying and optimizing administrative procedures, including:
   1. Suspending, reducing, modifying, or eliminating administrative formalities, procedures, permits, authorizations, and requirements, while respecting the legal reserve.
   2. Ordering the digitization of administrative procedures and processes, with a special emphasis on reducing the use of paper.
   3. Establishing rules and standards to ensure the uniformity or standardization of procedures across the agencies and entities of the Public Administration.
   4. Ordering the creation and regulation of digital and interoperable “sole window” (ventanilla única).
   5. Adopting any other measures necessary to achieve administrative efficiency and optimization.
   The Law expressly excludes the application of these powers with respect to judicial proceedings.
   National Commission for the Streamlining and Optimization of Administrative Procedures: The National Commission for the Streamlining and Optimization of Administrative Procedures is established as an advisory body, tasked with evaluating and proposing to the National Executive the measures to be adopted in this area.
   The Commission will be chaired by the President of the Republic and composed of, among others, the Executive Vice Presidency, Sectoral Vice Presidencies, representatives of the National Assembly, state governments, municipal governments, and the Office of the Ombudsman. It will also have a Technical Secretariat appointed by the Executive.
   The Law provides for mechanisms for public participation and consultation, incorporating social, cultural, and economic sectors into the design of administrative optimization measures.
4. Digitization, compatibility, and citizen services: The Law requires public administration bodies and entities to:
   1. Implement processes for technological modernization and institutional interoperability.
   2. Eliminate duplicate requirements and facilitate the inter-agency exchange of information.
   3. Designate units responsible for expediting and optimizing procedures.
   4. Ensure mechanisms to bridge the digital divide, including in-person service, direct assistance, and priority systems for vulnerable individuals.
   Failure to comply with the obligations set forth in the Law may result in legal liability for the officials involved.
5. Transitional Provisions: The Law establishes a maximum period of 180 consecutive days, counted from the date of its publication (i.e., 5 October 2026), for the authorities and entities of the Public Administration to adapt their procedures and processes to the principles and standards of streamlining and optimization.
6. Furthermore, the National Institute for the Efficient Management of Procedures and Permits is eliminated and ordered to be liquidated.

For more information on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.

1 Published in the Special Official Gazette No. 7,018 of 8 April 2026.

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