The Ministry of Economy established a post-trade control process for the administration of preferential tariff quotas from three bilateral Economic Complementation Agreements that cover automotive products, replacing import license requirements. It is designed to streamline the import procedures for automotive products.
Ordinance n.º 108/2021 from the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX) at the Ministry of Economy revised the import licensing requirements related to preferential tariff quotas established by three bilateral Economic Complementation Agreements (ACE, in the Portuguese acronym) on automotive products, specifically, the Brazil-Argentina (ACE 14, 44th Additional Protocol), Brazil-Uruguay (ACE 2, 76th Additional Protocol), and Brazil-Paraguay (ACE 74, 1st Additional Protocol) agreements, provided within the framework of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA).
The ordinance shifted SECEX’s control procedures for those preferential tariff quotas, from import licensing before customs clearance, to post-trade monitoring and control. The new process determined that the importer benefited by a quota system has 30 days to comply with an information request by SECEX, notified via the Single Foreign Trade Portal (SISCOMEX). The request concerns the documents that attest origin and preferential treatment of the benefited automotive products, the same documentation required by the former control procedure.
According to the Ministry of the Economy, the shift stems from the principles of the Law of Economic Freedom (Law n.º 13.874/2019) and the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, intended to streamline import procedures by reducing regulatory burden.
