Brazil Streamlines Import Process, Expects $130 Billion Economic Boost by 2040

Brazil’s import process will undergo a significant transformation starting October 1st. The migration to the Single Foreign Trade Portal will simplify operations for businesses.

This change is expected to save companies R$40 billion ($7.34 billion) each year. Tatiana Prazeres, Secretary of Foreign Trade, announced this information on Monday.

The Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services predicts substantial economic benefits. They estimate the reduction in bureaucracy will add $130 billion to Brazil’s economy by 2040.

The Single Portal replaces Siscomex, Brazil’s foreign trade registration system in use since 1993. The new platform streamlines the import process in several ways.

It reduces document requirements and executes previously sequential processes simultaneously. The system also allows for flexible licensing, authorizing multiple commercial operations by cargo volume or fixed periods.

Companies will now use a Single Import Declaration instead of filling out multiple documents. This simplification is a key feature of the new system.

It aims to make the import process more efficient and less time-consuming for businesses. The export sector has already benefited from similar changes.

Streamlining Brazil’s Import and Export Process

The migration to the portal with a unified declaration for exports began in 2017. It concluded in 2018, reducing average goods release time from 13 to 4.8 days.

For imports, the Single Import Declaration pilot project started in 2018. Since then, the average time for releasing incoming goods has decreased from 17 to nine days.

The full migration is expected to further reduce this time to five days. The new system will benefit approximately 50,000 importing companies in Brazil. Prazeres explained the economic impact of this change.

Each day a cargo is delayed costs about 0.8% of its value. Based on last year’s import value of R$242 billion ($44.40 billion), the four-day reduction could save businesses around $7.34 billion.

The Ministry calculated the $130 billion GDP gain by considering benefits to other economic sectors. These include reduced bureaucracy and lower production costs, known as “Brazil Cost.”

This comprehensive approach reflects the wide-ranging impact of the new system. The migration to the Single Portal will occur in phases over the next two years.

Maritime imports will transition first, from October to December 2024. Air cargo will follow from January to July 2025. Land border and Manaus Free Trade Zone imports will complete the transition by December 2025.

The Single Foreign Trade Portal has already shown impressive results. It has reduced the number of annually issued documents from 871,000 to 135,000.

The single declaration requires filling out 38 fields, compared to 98 in the previous Siscomex system. Robinson Barreirinhas, Special Secretary of the Federal Revenue, highlighted the portal’s advantages.

He noted that while Siscomex digitized paperwork in the 1990s, the Single Portal further streamlined the process. It reduces documents, digitalizes services, and enables joint cargo inspection by various agencies.