Brazil’s National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) has formally authorised the border post in Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade, Mato Grosso, to handle regular international road traffic of passengers and cargo with Bolivia. The measure is contained in Deliberação ANTT nº 291, signed on 8 October and published in the Diário Oficial da União this Friday, 9 October 2026. The new crossing sits on BR-174, about 100 kilometres north-east of San Matías (BO). Until now the route had only provisional status, forcing buses and trucks to divert hundreds of kilometres via Cáceres or Corumbá. With the definitive ‘habilitação’, Brazilian and Bolivian authorities can install permanent immigration, customs and sanitary inspection points, paving the way for scheduled international coach services and bonded trucking corridors. Local logistics operators and agribusiness exporters in western Mato Grosso expect freight times to Chilean and Peruvian Pacific ports to fall by up to 20 percent once the corridor is fully sign-posted and paved. Passenger coach companies are already requesting ANTT permits to operate daily Cuiabá–Santa Cruz services, which could stimulate cross-border tourism and shopping trips. For mobility managers the decision creates a new, shorter option for multimodal supply chains to and from the Andean region. Companies moving project cargo should monitor forthcoming Receita Federal rules on temporary admission (ATA Carnet/Repetro-Sped) for the site, while HR teams need to brief assignees on Bolivian visa-free entry (90 days) and compulsory third-party vehicle insurance on the Bolivian side. State and municipal authorities now have 90 days to complete signage, lighting and wi-fi infrastructure. ANTT says it will audit safety conditions every six months during the first two years of operation.
Source: Diário do Transporte
