How Can I Start an Import Process?

MAPA regulates the entry into Brazil of several products under import and biosecurity conditions established by law and specific regulations. Some products are not allowed to be imported, whereas others may be imported, albeit under certain conditions that aim at mitigating the risks associated with them, whether to the environment, agriculture, public health or national biodiversity. Among these conditions it is possible to find:

• Registration of an Import Permit (LI);
• Import Permit (LI); or
• Authorization prior to shipping, which, depending on the case, should be issued before your product is shipped to Brazil.

Therefore, to import agricultural products or plant and animal products or inputs, you should first check the tax classification of the product (NCM code - Mercosur Common Nomenclature).  The initial consultation may be performed by referring to the list of the Common External Tariff (TEC), on the web page of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC). For questions concerning the NCM code of the product or federal taxes involved, please consult the Secretariat of the Internal Revenue Service of Brazil (Receita Federal do Brasil), which is the body in charge of tax classification and taxation. 

Once the NCM is known, the importer should check the “Administrative Treatment” to be deployed in the product. It can be done through the specific module at Import SISCOMEX or using the “Administrative Treatment Simulator” of the “SISCOMEX Portal”. During this consultation, check whether importation is subjected to licensing and whether MAPA is the agency responsible for granting the Import Permit (LI).

When MAPA needs to carry out controls of any nature — whether sanitary, phytosanitary, zoosanitary or quality and identity controls — the consent for the product under an import permit in SISCOMEX will be granted in compliance with eight procedures set by MAPA in Normative Instruction 51/2011. To make the search easier, the International Agricultural Surveillance System (VIGIAGRO) of the Secretariat of Animal and Plant Health (SDA) offers a list of NCMs granted by MAPA with their respective procedures, and the Technical Department* (please check the clarification below) in charge of product regulation.

If your product does not appear on the list and the operation did not require licensing, you need only register the Import Declaration (DI), which is the sole responsibility of the Secretariat of the Internal Revenue Service of Brazil (Receita Federal do Brasil). However, some products regulated by MAPA, even when exempted from licensing or consent, are subject to agricultural inspection and importers who do not comply with the rules of some specific products may be subject to penalties based on the law. The same reasoning applies to the inspection of wood packaging and dunnage materials.

All imported products that may be associated with wood packaging and dunnage or vehicles and cargo units that may contain soil residues, insects, plant or animal residues or other types of biological residues are subject to MAPA inspection.