Brazil imposes new requirements to prevent illegal textile imports

Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) updates that Brazilian government recently issued several new regulations aimed at reducing illegal and irregular imports of textiles and apparel. On August 17, 2011 Brazilian customs published a new regulation that includes special inspection procedures for the importation of textiles and apparel, which may delay the release of imported goods up to 180 days. The delays could also result in additional storage or other costs. The new procedures apply to textiles and apparel classifiable in chapters 61 and 62 of the Harmonized System.

Brazilian customs authorities have also recently enacted other regulations that will allow stricter monitoring and control of textile and apparel import transactions. These include Normative Instruction 1.169, related to the control of goods that are suspected of being irregularly imported and are subject to seizure, and Normative Instruction 1.181, concerning procedures for the customs compliance of foreign operators, which are defined in the regulations as the producer, manufacturer or exporter of goods to Brazil.

If customs authorities identify a difference between the weight declared on the import declaration and the actual weight identified in customs clearance, they will consult the voluntary information provided by foreign operators, as described in Normative Instruction 1.181. If deemed necessary following a review of that information, the import declaration will be subject to the special customs control procedures described in Normative Instruction 1.169 and could be seized. Customs authorities must also register any import irregularities in the importing company’s file within the government’s RADAR (Brazilian Foreign Trade Authorization for Import and Export) system. This database comprises all Brazilian customs and trade data on goods and can be used to identify future divergences in customs data provided to authorities.

Additionally, in a move that will raise another obstacle to textile and apparel imports, beginning Dec. 1 the Brazilian government will raise the Cofins contribution rate for imports of textiles, shoes and furniture from 7.6% to 9.1%.

The enactment of these new rules is part of a customs modernization and investigation package launched by the Brazilian government in May. Through these regulations and procedures, Brazilian customs authorities want to gain greater oversight of domestic companies through an enhanced ability to audit their operations. At the same time, companies that duly fulfill the requirements of these regulations will enjoy faster processing of their import transactions in the long run, with reduced time frames and avoiding special customs controls on their imports.