Brazil and United States sign agreements on cooperation in customs security

Yesterday, July 11, Brazil’s minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, and the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, signed a joint declaration that will permit an exchange program to be established for technology, information and training of personnel working in customs (“Receita Federal”) as part of a Global Supply Chain Security effort by both countries.

According to Luis Felipe Barros, acting deputy secretary for Customs and International Affairs, the document will make it possible for both countries to expedite so-called low-risk cargo while concentrating time and effort (fiscalização rigorosa”) on high-risk cargo.

“If only 10% to 15% of the containers we handle have to undergo careful inspection, then the rest can move more quickly through customs in both countries,” explained Flavio Araujo, coordinator general of International Relations at Receita Federal, who went on to explain that nowadays imported cargo takes an average of two days to be liberated by customs. Exports can move through in ten hours.

In a pilot program, to be set up as part of the Global Supply Chain Security pact, authorized operators for certain importers, exporters and transporters at specific airports in Brazil and the United States (one in each country) will streamline customs operations. However, at the moment, the program is still just on paper.

Brazil is also negotiating a similar agreement with South Korea.

Barros declared that an exchange of information between the two selected airports would be initially limited to commercial cargo, but that in the future could be expanded to include passengers and their baggage. “Bags would be scanned beforehand making it possible for detailed inspection to concentrate on suspicious baggage instead of being based on samples,” he explained.