Customs clearance of goods at import is the procedure by which it is verified the accuracy of the data declared by the importer in relation to imported goods, documents submitted and specific legislation, with a view to your customs clearance.
All merchandise from abroad, imported permanently or not, subject or not to the payment of import tax, must be submitted to import clearance, which is carried out on the basis of a declaration submitted to the customs unit under whose control the goods are.
Generally, the import clearance is processed through the Import Declaration (OF), registered in the Integrated Foreign Trade System (Siscomex), pursuant to Normative Instruction SRF nº 680/06 , as described below. meantime, in some situations, the importer can opt for simplified customs clearance , that can be done through Siscomex or through forms, as the case may be.
Like this, before starting your import operation, the interested party must check if their authorization to use Siscomex will be necessary and if it is in force.
The import customs clearance is divided, basically, in two categories: dispatch for consumption; and clearance for admission to a special customs regime or applied to special areas.
Dispatch for consumption occurs when goods entering the country are destined for use, by the national productive apparatus, as inputs, raw material, production goods and intermediate products, as well as when destined for own consumption and resale. The office for consumer visas, therefore, the nationalization of imported merchandise and the common import regime applies to it.
The clearance for admission to special customs regimes or applied in special areas aims to enter goods in the country, products or goods from abroad, that should remain in the regime for a certain period and according to the purpose, without suffering the immediate incidence of taxes, which remain suspended until the extinction of the regime. Among others, applies to goods in customs transit (to another point in the national territory or to another country) and on temporary admission , in which case the goods must return abroad, after fulfilling their purpose.
Before starting an import operation, the interested party must always check whether the goods to be imported are subject to administrative control , because, as a rule, this must be done before the goods are shipped abroad, under penalty of payment of a fine.
Import on behalf of third parties
Import operations on behalf of third parties are understood to be those in which a legal entity promotes, in your name, customs clearance for the import of goods acquired by another, due to a previously signed contract, that can understand, still, the provision of other services related to the commercial transaction, such as price quotation and commercial intermediation.
The customs control related to the performance of an importing legal entity that operates on behalf of third parties is exercised as established in Normative Instruction SRF nº 225/02 .
The registration of the Import Declaration (OF) by the contractor is conditioned to his previous qualification in Siscomex , to act as importer on behalf of the buyer, for the term provided for in the contract.
Import by Order
Import by order operation is understood as one in which a legal entity promotes, in your name, the customs clearance for the importation of goods acquired by it abroad, to resell the predetermined ordering company, due to a contract signed between them.
Importation by order is not considered to be an operation carried out with resources from the orderer, although partially.
The customs control related to the performance of an importing legal entity that operates by order is exercised as established in Normative Instruction SRF nº 634/06 .
The registration of the Import Declaration (OF) is conditioned to previous qualification in Siscomex , both of the orderer, how much from the importer per order, and the previous link between them in this system.
Import Declaration - DI
Import customs clearance is processed based on a declaration to be presented to the customs unit under whose control your merchandise is under control..
A DI must conter, among other information, the identification of the importer and the buyer or orderer, if they are not the same person, as well as the identification, the classification, customs value and origin of goods.
DI is formulated by the importer or his legal representative in the Integrated Foreign Trade System (Siscomex) and consists of providing the information contained in the Single Annex of IN SRF nº 680/06 , according to the type of declaration and the type of customs clearance. This information is separated into two groups:
- general – corresponding to the import operation;
- Specific (addition) – containing data of a commercial nature, tax and exchange rate on each type of merchandise.
The customs treatment to be applied to imported goods is decisive for the choice of the type of declaration to be filled out by the importer.
Import Taxes
The taxes levied on a given import and its amounts depend on the type of goods, your worth, source, nature of the operation, importer quality, among others.
Siscomex itself contains the applicable tax rates and, based on information provided by the importer, he performs the necessary calculations and debits the amounts due directly to the current account informed, at the time of registration of the DI.
Start of Customs Clearance on Import
The act that determines the beginning of the import customs clearance is the registration of the DI in Siscomex, except in cases of Early Dispatch. It is at the time of registration that all federal taxes due on importation are paid..
If the import clearance, in one of its modalities, is not started within the deadlines established by law, ranging from 45 a 90 days the goods arrive in the country, she is considered abandoned , which will entail the application of the penalty of forfeiture and the destination of the goods for one of the purposes provided for in the legislation. The same is true for merchandise whose import clearance has been halted for sixty days, per action or omission of the importer.
DI Instruction Documents
General rule, the documents that serve as the basis for the information contained in the DI are:
- original bill of lading or equivalent document;
- original via commercial invoice, signed by the exporter;
- cargo romaneio ( packing list ), if applicable; e
- others, required as a result of International Agreements or specific legislation.
DI instruction documents must be delivered to SRF inspection whenever requested and, therefore, the importer must keep them for the period provided for in the legislation, which may vary according to the case, but it is never less than 05 years.
Parameterization (green channels, yellow, red and gray)
Once the import declaration is registered and the customs clearance procedure begins, DI is submitted to tax analysis and selected for one of the conference channels. Such selection procedure receives the name of parameterization.
The conference channels are four: verde, yellow, red and gray.
The import selected for the green channel is cleared automatically without any verification. The yellow channel means checking the ID's instruction documents and the information contained in the declaration. In the case of selection for the red channel, there is, beyond the documentary conference, the physical check of the merchandise. Finally, when DI is selected for the gray channel, the documentary examination is carried out, the physical verification of the goods and the application of a special customs control procedure, for verification of evidence of fraud, including with regard to the declared price of the goods.
Customs Clearance
Customs clearance is the act by which the conclusion of the customs conference is recorded. It is with the customs clearance that the actual delivery of the goods to the importer is authorized and it is the last act of the customs clearance procedure.