Distributing a product

Evolution of the sector

With the liberalization of trade, undertaken since 1990, many agents and distributors have formed themselves into companies and begun to import to sell on their own account. Today, the majority of the large distribution chains have their own import agency. For several years, supermarkets and in particular hypermarkets, have become more and more important in the distribution milieu. Brazilian hypermarkets make 80% of sales of staple commodities.

Market shares

CBD/Casino : 9.19% ; Carrefour : 5.96% ; Wall Mart : 4.1% ; Atacadao: 2.43% ; Lojas Americanas: 2.18% ; SHV Makro: 2.01%.

Organizations in the retail sector

Brazilian supermarket association (Abrasnet)

We can identify professional tradeshows on your sector.

Market access procedures

International Conventions

Member of World Trade Organisation
Party to the Kyoto protocol
Party to the Washington convention on International trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora
Party to the Basel convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their disposal
Party to the Montreal protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer
Party of the International coffee agreement 2001

Main International economic cooperation

Member of MERCOSUR
Latin American Integration Association (ALADI)
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
The country have signed a trade agreement with 21 other countries in the São Paulo Round of the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP).

Non tariff barriers

A large number of imported products are subject to a prior license application to the SECEX (Secretariat for Foreign Trade), which is the only organization authorized to issue this license. The license is valid for 60 days from the date of shipment of the goods (sometimes from the date of the license application). This period cannot be extended and is often insufficient. A new license application must then be made. For textiles, regulations are even more strict: the license is only issued if payment is carried out within 30 days following the date of the B/L (importers have to prove that they have effectively paid within the 30 days).
All imports must be accompanied at least by 2 copies of the commercial invoice and the B/L. In the case of non-compliance with the legal requirements of the country, the Customs have the right to impose large fines, up to 100% of the usual Customs duties being common. It is advisable in any case to work with a very good Brazilian Customs broker who alone will be in a position to be informed more or less in due course about Customs regulations. It is necessary to consult the numerous sanitary regulations before importing anything.

Customs duties and taxes on imports

10.73 %, within the average for emerging countries.
You can find Customs duties by product on the International Customs Tariffs Bureau website.

Customs classification

Brazil applies the Harmonized Customs system.

Import procedures

Every importer must be registered with the authorities in charge of foreign trade, SISEX, in order to integrate the Customs computer system, the SISCOMEX. This represents a costly investment, as the prerequisites, especially in terms of minimum capital, are considerable. The regime in place in Brazil has an automated process for issuing import licenses, except for a certain number of products listed below. In general, all used consumer goods are prohibited from being imported.

Importing samples

Imported samples will be considered by the Customs at their market value, unless there is a particular agreement according to the quantity and size of the samples.

For further information

Customs Department
The WTO website

We can indicate you which are the customs duties applied to your product.

Find out the local taxes that apply to your product.

Organizing goods transport

Main useful means of transport

The Brazilian transportation infrastructure faces many challenges, as roads and ports need to be upgraded. Brazil's participation in the waterway modal of transportation is small when compared to other countries, despite its enormous potential for river traffic. Only 13% of cargo is transported by this mode. The roads represent 58% of the total freight while railroads comprise 21%.

Brazil's large cities are well served by air. However, goods transport is not much developed, mainly because of the high cost of this type of transport.
Practically all the State capitals are linked by tarmacked roads. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other important States have expressways. The road and motorway network covers approximately 1.5 million kilometers, of which some160 000 are tarmacked, an increase of more than 300% over the last two decades. This is the means of transport used most, as it handles about 85% of the transport of people and Brazilian products. Recently, the exploitation of several motorways has been transferred to the private sector.
The railway network carries 22.5% of goods traffic. Only 7% of the lines are electrified.

Ports

Port of Recife
Port of Santos (São Paulo)
Port of the Rio Grande
Port of Salvador
Port of Rio de Janeiro
Port of Belem
Port of Paranagua
Port of Vitoria
Port of Itaqui
Port of Sao Sebastiao
River port of Manaus

Airports

Brazilian airports website

Sea transport organizations

Government agency for sea transport

Air transport organizations

National Civil Aviation Agency

Road transport organizations

National land transport agency

Rail transport organizations

National land transport agency

Get a ballpark figure for transportation costs for your product in this country through a shipping estimate.

Identifying a supplier

Type of production

Industry is dynamic and contributes 37% to GDP, especially in the following sectors: agri-foods, textiles, aeronautics, pharmacy, automobile, iron and steel industry, chemical industry.

Business directories

Telelistas.net
The Yellow Pages
Busca.sos102.com.br
BrazilBiz

Manufacturers associations of the main industries

Association of shoe manufacturers
Association of institutions involved in applied research
Association of defense material and security industries
Association of aerospace industries
Association of car manufacturers
Association of machine and equipment manufacturers
Brazilian association of the food industry

Trade Agencies and their representations abroad

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Rio de Janeiro

Enterprises federation

Union representation for trade in goods, services and tourism.
National Confederation of Industry
National agency for support for SMEs

Standards

National standards organizations

Brazilian technical standards association
Brazilian committee for standardization in the fields of electricity, electronics and telecommunications
National Council of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (CONMETRO)
National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO)

Integration in the international standards network

Member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), of theInternational Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), of the Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN), of the Pan-American Standards Commission (COPANT) and of the MERCOSUL Association for Standardization (AMN) and of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which has become the GSI after merging with a European group (an organization concerning chains of logistics and bar codes).

Classification of standards

ABNT, NBR standards.

Online consultation of standards

The ABNT catalog.

Certification organizations

List of organizations authorized to issue certifications

Find out the standards and labelling requirements that apply to your products.

Intellectual Property

National organizations

The organization in charge of the protection of patents and trademarks in Brazil is the INPI (Instituto Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial).

Regional organizations

MERCOSUR (Mercado Común del Sur), UCC (Uniform Commercial Code), UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants).

International membership

Member of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
Signatory to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Intellectual Property