Brasília – The time required to complete sales of products to international markets could be shaved off by 40%, according to estimates by the government, which launched this Thursday (23) the New Export Process within the Unified Foreign Trade Portal (sicomex.gov.br). The goal for when the system is fully implemented is to cut down the time required to export from the current 13 to 8 days, and from 17 to 10 days regarding imports.
The goal is also to simplify the procedures needed for foreign sales by cutting down the number of required documents and steps. According to the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC), the new process will impact nearly 5 million export operations that take place every year, conducted by over 25,500 companies.
The project’s initial phase only includes exports made through air transport via the airports of Guarulhos-SP, Viracopos-SP, Galeão-RJ and Confins-MG and under the exclusive supervision of the Federal Revenues Services. Until the end of the year, the government’s proposal is to include all airports and other export modes: maritime, river, road and railway, plus operations under the supervision of other federal bodies.
According to the ministry, the initial stage, in effect in the four airports, will streamline the clearance of high value-added goods which, in 2016, accounted for near USD 6 billion in exports, 55.7% of exports operations done via air.
Next month, the waterway mode will be included, with ground transport to be added in May. In June, operations supported by the Drawback Special Regime (suspension or exemption of taxes on imported raw materials and inputs to be used in the production of goods to be exported) will be incorporated. In September, other operations under government control will be added. The new exports process will be fully implemented in December. Next year, import operations will follow the new measures.
Among the measures brought by the program are the exemption of documents, the current Export Registry, Export Declaration and Simplified Export Declaration will be replaced by the Export Single Declaration; exemption from procedural steps; integration with electronic invoice system; 60% reduction in data fill-in; automated data checking; a single portal for the use of exporters and government; and simultaneous process flows, that is, customs clearance, cargo handling and registering and certification no longer need to be conducted in sequence, with time required being cut down.
Unified Portal
The Unified Foreign Trade Portal already allows for real-time status checks for exports and imports. Users can also attach documents electronically, which cut by 99% the use of paper in the operations.
In a statement, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) has said that the Unified Portal will also cut down costs. According to the organization, “one day of delay due to customs red tape increases the costs of the product from 0.6% to 2.1%.” To CNI, 26.4% of small and medium-sized companies and 6.4% of large ones export their goods via air transport. CNI believes this measure will be “a milestone” for Brazilian foreign trade and adds that the number of information required to export will decline from 98 to 36.
According to MDIC, a study by Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) shows that the measures will add USD 23.8 billion to Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product and 7% to the country’s international trade numbers. Also expected as a result is the diversification of exports, with the share of products from the manufacturing industry increasing from 10.3% in 2018 to 26.5% in 2030.
“The streamlining of these customs procedures creates stability in trade and industrial relations,” said president Michel Temer in the launch ceremony.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani