The thought of exports and imports can seem overwhelming to many entrepreneurs. There are many technical terms, fees and red tape involving the whole process, but there are many advantages to operating in foreign trade. For example, it is possible to cover a wider audience in the case of exports, or reduce production costs by importing cheaper input products from other countries.
One process which generates quite a lot of doubt is customs clearance, a mandatory step required by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Office. But is it really that complicated?
What must I know about customs clearance?
Each and every import and export procedure must go through the process of customs clearance, which allows the government to maintain a record of all goods entering and exiting the country. Additionally, it ensures that taxes on products are duly charged and that goods in transit correspond to their description and the tax declaration.
This procedure takes place for every item of merchandise and is done even before the importer or exporter are cleared to import or export their product.
What is involved in a successful customs clearance process?
During the process, some documentation errors may incur fines for the company, or even delay the process. To prevent this from happening, certain steps are essential:
- Correct tax classification – In order to carry out an import or export procedure, it is necessary to inform the product tax classification, which can be obtained through a table called a Common Foreign Tariff (Tarifa Externa Comum – TEC). On this chart it is possible to find the fiscal classification for each product, defined according to a MERCOSUR agreement, called Common Mercosur Nomenclature (Nomenclatura Comum do Mercosul – NCM). It is based on the NCM that the Federal Revenue Office defines the tax treatment applicable to the goods.
- Check the product documentation – When submitting goods for customs clearance, check all information included in the documents presented to the Federal Revenue Office. It is extremely important that all shipping information described on the Import Declaration (declaração de importação – DI) be clearly detailed in order to expedite clearance by customs.
- Pay attention to deadlines – As with all procedures, there is a deadline to be complied with, and it is essential that it be respected. The deadline, for example, to begin customs clearance procedures for imports is of up to 90 days from the date the goods are disembarked onto national territory.
Do you still have questions about customs clearance? Contact us. We at TCW work with customs clearance at all ports, airports and borders in Brazil. Through qualified professionals and advanced technological tools, we offer our clients full technical support necessary for customs clearance swiftly and safely in import and export procedures.