What are the main steps in the export process in Brazil?
Brazil is a continental country located in South America with 220 million inhabitants. It is the fifth largest country in the world, the tenth largest economy (based on its GDP) and an excellent location with fertile soil and plenty of room to produce just about anything, whether plant or animal – which makes it a powerhouse in the food export market.
Brazil has been working on facilitating foreign trade and this makes the South American country to continually maintain a surplus in its trade balance, also thanks to the huge quantity of commodities exported every year and the various government incentives for companies to start exporting.
Importing from Brazil is an excellent alternative for companies looking to leave the Asia-Europe axis, on the one hand because of the wide variety of products, from proteins, grains, cellulose, and even fruits, but also because it is a country that holds several producers of the same item, which allows the importer not to be hostage to only one producing company.
EXPORT FLOW CHART
Before starting an import from Brazil, it is necessary to understand how exports work there. The language is Brazilian Portuguese (although many people think it’s Spanish as almost the entire South America speaks the language).
The culture is warm and welcoming, which means Brazilian people like to talk, receive people over, meet, hug. That is why it is quite common for the exporter to call many times, to meet the importer in person, to attend trade fairs, so: get ready.
Exporting in Brazil does not require government authorization most of the time, except when there is a product that cannot leave the country for reasons of force majeure, as has happened all over the world with products related to the fight against COVID-19.
There is no taxation for exporting products from Brazil, except income tax due by the selling company, which is calculated on the profit that the selling company will obtain on the net revenue generated from the sale of the product.
Search for suppliers, inspection, and negotiation
It is possible to find suppliers in Brazil even on sites like Alibaba, but they are not as present in the Brazilian market as they are in Asia. For this reason, there are associations and consortia of companies that maintain working groups to broadcast the names of companies that desire to export. Chambers of Commerce can be good venues, in addition to specific fairs and events.
It is feasible to carry out inspections in Brazilian factories and producers, although some sectors in which Brazil is a leader in exports (such as meat, for instance) already count on teams whose knowledge of world markets is vast and who attest that Brazilian products meet the requirements of most of the demanding countries, either in terms of sanitary precautions or religion.
Bureaucracies, documents
Like anywhere in the world, Brazil has its own export legislation. The requested documents are quite common, but there are some other specific ones, such as the Export Clearance, for example. Check some of them:
INVOICE and PL
An Invoice and a Packing List are required to carry out an export in Brazil. There the PL is called Romaneio de Carga.
BL, AWB
Bill of Lading and Airway Bill are required on Export operations but can be issued electronically if the destination country accepts such method. The e-BL can also be used.
DUE
DUE is the so-called Declaração Única de Exportação in Portuguese, meaning Single Export Declaration, which was implemented recently in the country and has already managed to drastically reduce the time it takes for an export to be cleared by the Brazilian Federal Revenue. It is a simple electronic document that copies the invoice – another document already issued for the international sale.
International Logistics
When we talk about exports, we immediately think about cargo. When a product is being analyzed, the next thought is the international logistics. As a gigantic country, Brazil has dozens of ports and hundreds of airports of all sizes, including the two busiest port and airport in South America.
It is necessary to negotiate well with the exporter who will pay for the freight and will be responsible for it, since a freight leaving from Manaus, north of the country, or from Santos, southeast region, and busiest port, can cost twice the difference, in addition to the risks and distance involved – since Manaus has a very precarious structure compared to Santos, so pay attention to these details.
Collect
Collection in Brazil is not a difficult challenge, it is just an expensive service. The country is full of highways and the road transport is its main mode of transport there. The truck fleet is sufficient, and it does not take long to find availability for a shipment.
International shipping
There are many alternatives for international freight leaving Brazil, both by air and by sea, in addition to road transport to South America. In the maritime modal, the scarcity of space and equipment have been constant for years, the COVID-19 pandemic has only made the situation even more chaotic.
In the air and road modal the situation is better, however, the offer of space is also limited and the most used airports, which are Guarulhos and Viracopos, constantly suffer from the lack of windows for scheduling the cargo delivery.
Delivery
Delivery in Brazil is relatively simple and there is a port or airport close to each state. States that are not on the seacoast can easily use the most common ports, as is the case of Minas Gerais, one of the largest states in Brazil in terms of GDP and which is not surrounded by ocean. Exporters in this region use Rio de Janeiro or Santos as a shipping port, which are relatively close to it.
Conclusion
Brazil is a country with a strong export trade and can be an excellent source of income for companies looking to diversify markets, escape seasonality, or even develop a lasting partnership taking advantage of one of the many trade agreements the country has to encourage export.
It is very important to have a reliable agent in Brazil to take care of all the details of your export. We can get you an international shipping quotation for your cargo. Contact us!