To import commercially into Brazil, the importing company needs a RADAR registration from the Receita Federal (the federal tax and customs authority), a declaration filed through the Portal Único Siscomex (the single window), approval from any other agency that controls the product, and the ability to pay a stack of federal and state taxes. As of October 2026 the declaration itself is in transition: the older DI (Declaração de Importação) is being switched off in stages in favour of the DUIMP (Declaração Única de Importação). Most businesses file through a licensed customs broker (despachante aduaneiro), so the practical job for a shipper or forwarder is knowing what to prepare. For the wider picture of how clearance works anywhere, see our customs clearance guide; for the market, see the best logistics companies in Brazil.
A caution about sources. Brazilian customs rules are published in Portuguese, change often by instruction and notice, and the Receita Federal and Siscomex sites are hard to read by machine. Where this guide could only confirm something in a consultancy or news summary rather than a government page, it says so. Treat every date as an "as of October 2026" statement and check the Siscomex notices before you commit to a shipment.
What the Portal Siscomex is and why it matters
The Portal Único de Comércio Exterior (Portal Único Siscomex) is Brazil's foreign-trade single window, created by Decreto 8.229/2014. The idea is one entry point where an importer, broker or carrier submits data once, and the customs authority and the other controlling agencies read the same record, instead of each agency running its own paperwork. Licences, permits and certificates sit in a module called LPCO (Licenças, Permissões, Certificados e Outros Documentos), and the declaration is registered against them.
Siscomex also still runs the older import system that the DI is filed in. That is why you will see two overlapping processes during the transition. The government calls the whole redesign the Novo Processo de Importação (new import process).
RADAR: the importer's licence to operate
RADAR (Registro e Rastreamento da Atuação dos Intervenientes Aduaneiros) is the registration that lets a company or individual operate in Brazilian foreign trade. Without it you cannot register an import declaration in your own name. It is requested electronically through the Habilita service on the Portal Único. A consultancy summary last updated in July 2026 describes the framework as IN RFB 1.984/2020, substantially reformed by IN RFB 2.292/2025, with approval automatic in most cases (a secondary source; confirm the instruction on the Receita Federal site).
Company registrations come in three modalities: Expressa, Limitada and Ilimitada. As a rule of thumb from secondary sources, Expressa is aimed at large listed companies and their wholly owned subsidiaries, Limitada caps how much you may import in a six-month period and suits newer importers, and Ilimitada carries no import cap but depends on the company's proven economic and financial capacity, which the Receita Federal monitors and can revise. Older articles quote specific dollar caps per semester. Those figures have been revised before, so this guide does not repeat them; ask the Receita Federal or your broker what limit applies to your registration.
The modality matters operationally: the Siscomex page on the DUIMP schedule, as summarised by a consultancy in July 2026, lists imports under Radar Limitado among the cases that were still running on the DI. If you are a new, small importer, expect to be among the last moved.
DUIMP versus DI: where the switch stands (October 2026)
The DI is the traditional import declaration. The DUIMP is its replacement: a single declaration that carries the customs data, the tax calculation and the references to other agencies' licences in one record, filed in the Portal Único. The legal hook is IN SRF 680/2006 (the import clearance instruction), which was amended in 2018 to allow processing by DUIMP, and the operational act is Portaria Coana 165/2024, as cited by a consultancy glossary. The Receita's older "mandatory from October 2024" announcement is out of date, so ignore it.
What the official Siscomex pages say as of October 2026:
- The Siscomex schedule page (updated February 2026) publishes three tables: a DUIMP onboarding schedule, a DI shutdown schedule and a state (SEFAZ) schedule, plus a simulator to check a specific operation.
- The shutdown page records versions of the schedule. The text lists a shutdown date of 1 December 2026 for several categories, including special-warehouse cases that were admitted by DI and some public-administration importers, and a further shutdown added for 10 December 2026 in version 28 dated 2 October 2026. The full table is in a spreadsheet, so which goods or modes fall under each date is not stated in the page text.
- Rules in the same text: where more than one agency or more than one tax regime applies, the DI is switched off only when all of them have been; and an import licence (LI) registered after a shutdown date can no longer be linked to a DI.
- Siscomex notice 104/2026 (8 October 2026) says that, from 13 October 2026, imports needing prior approval from Suframa (the Manaus Free Trade Zone authority) can be registered through the DUIMP, and that the DI is scheduled to be shut down on 10 December 2026.
- Dates are revised when private-sector validation finds blocking errors, so treat the schedule as a moving target and use the official simulator.
A consultancy summary of the position in July 2026 said the DUIMP was already mandatory for most sea and air imports, with land and rail, the Manaus zone and public bodies still on the DI. Separately, a joint Receita Federal and tax-committee act (Ato Conjunto RFB/CGIBS 4/2026, 30 July 2026) was reported as tying the electronic-invoice rules for imports of physical goods to the DUIMP starting 1 January 2027. We saw that in a news summary of the act, not the act itself.
Import licences and approvals from other agencies
Receita Federal clears the customs side. Other agencies decide whether certain goods may enter at all. These approvals are called anuência, and the licence is the licenciamento de importação (LI) or, in the new process, an LPCO. Typical agencies include:
| Agency | Typically concerned with |
|---|---|
| ANVISA | Health products: food, medicines, cosmetics, medical devices, sanitisers |
| MAPA | Agriculture: plants, animals, animal products, inputs such as fertiliser and pesticide |
| INMETRO | Product conformity and certification for regulated goods |
| ANATEL | Telecommunications and radio equipment |
| IBAMA | Environmental control: protected species, certain chemicals, timber |
That table is a guide to the usual authorities, not a list of rules. Which exact HS codes need which approval is set in the Tratamento Administrativo de Importação data in the Portal Único, and it is checked by classification. So the first step for any product is the code: our HS code guide explains how to find it, and a wrong code can mean a missed licence, a held container and demurrage. A common misconception is that the broker can "sort out" a missing approval at the port. Often the approval has to be in place, or the licence registered, before the declaration, and goods with a pending licence typically sit in a bonded terminal accruing storage.
The import tax stack and why it is hard
Brazil layers several taxes on imports, some federal and some state. This guide names them and explains how they interact. It does not state rates, because they depend on the HS code, the origin, the state and the regime, and we could not confirm a current rate table from a government page.
| Charge | Level | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| II (import duty) | Federal | Set by the Mercosur Common External Tariff (TEC), by HS code, subject to national exceptions and preferential agreements |
| IPI | Federal | Tax on manufactured products, applied on a base that includes the import duty |
| PIS and COFINS-Importação | Federal | Social contributions charged on imports |
| ICMS | State | Collected by the state where the goods are cleared or destined; rules and rates differ by state |
| AFRMM | Federal | Merchant-marine surcharge on waterborne freight, tied to the ocean freight charge |
The difficulty is not any single rate. The taxes build on one another (the IPI base includes the duty, and ICMS is generally computed on a base that already contains the other taxes), so a small change in customs value or classification moves the total more than most importers expect. Add that ICMS varies by state and that there are special regimes, and landed cost in Brazil is hard to estimate from a spreadsheet alone. For a general method, see customs valuation explained.
Customs value is CIF
Brazil assesses duty on a customs value that includes freight and insurance to the point of entry, in other words a CIF basis, following the WTO valuation rules. In practice this means the ocean or air freight you negotiate is part of the tax base, so a freight quote that rises affects the taxes too. Sellers who ship on FOB or EXW terms still see freight and insurance added for the tax calculation. Check the invoice and the Incoterm match what the broker enters, since a mismatch is a classic reason for a valuation query.
The tax reform (IBS and CBS) is phasing in
The consumption tax reform is replacing PIS, COFINS, IPI, ICMS and ISS with two new taxes: CBS (federal) and IBS (state and municipal). According to the Receita Federal's reform page (updated 16 October 2026):
- 2026 is a test year, with test rates of 0.9 percent for CBS and 0.1 percent for IBS, offset against PIS and COFINS owed.
- 2027 and 2028: CBS applies at a reduced rate, IBS at 0.1 percentage point, PIS and COFINS are extinguished, and IPI rates fall to zero for nearly all products except those also made in the Manaus Free Trade Zone. A selective tax (Imposto Seletivo) takes effect.
- 2029 to 2032: IBS grows (10 percent of the combined state and municipal load in 2029, rising 10 points a year to 40 percent in 2032) while ICMS and ISS shrink.
- 2033: ICMS and ISS are extinguished and the new model is fully in force.
For importers there is one immediate task. A consultancy summary of the Siscomex notices says that from 1 January 2026 each goods item in a DI or DUIMP must carry a six-digit cClassTrib tax classification code (in the DI, inside square brackets in the detailed description field), and that doing so fulfils the accessory obligation under LC 214/2025. Ask your broker whether this is in their workflow.
Low-value consignments and Remessa Conforme
Consumer parcels and small business-to-consumer shipments have their own regime, Remessa Conforme, run by the Receita Federal for certified e-commerce platforms and couriers. It is separate from the formal commercial import described above, and it is often confused with it. Since August 2024 a federal import tax on parcels up to US$50 (the so-called "taxa das blusinhas") applied under it, and ICMS applied on top.
As of October 2026 the position was in flux. Olhar Digital reported on 12 May 2026 that the government had announced, through a provisional measure signed by the president, the end of the 20 percent federal charge on Remessa Conforme purchases up to US$50, effective 13 May 2026. Another source reported the measure had been approved by Congress in September 2026, but that was a single consultancy blog and we could not confirm it. ICMS and the treatment of parcels above US$50 were not addressed in the report we could read. Check the Receita Federal's Remessa Conforme pages before pricing a parcel flow. If you ship commercial quantities for resale, you are in the formal import regime with a RADAR, not this one.
Customs brokers, bonded warehouses, drawback and Mercosur origin
- Customs brokers (despachantes aduaneiros). A regulated profession that registers declarations on behalf of importers, often under a power of attorney. Using one is normal rather than compulsory for a company with its own RADAR and trained staff, but most importers do. See do you need a customs broker for the general comparison.
- Bonded warehouses. Goods can be stored under customs control in a bonded terminal or a special customs warehouse regime with duty and tax suspended until withdrawal. Which regime applies depends on the goods and the purpose; foreign trade zones versus bonded warehouses explains the general logic.
- Drawback. Brazil has a suspension regime for inputs that will be incorporated in goods then exported. It is conditional on exporting and tracked by authorities, and the concept is the same as in our duty drawback guide. Eligibility is set by Brazilian rules, so confirm with a broker.
- Mercosur origin. Goods that qualify as originating in Mercosur partners can enter at preferential duty, but only with the proper origin certification and compliance with the origin rules. Do not assume a free-trade benefit from the supplier's country alone; see rules of origin.
What to do next
- Confirm your HS code and ask whether the product needs an approval from ANVISA, MAPA, INMETRO, ANATEL, IBAMA or another agency before you book.
- Check that the importing company has an active RADAR registration and ask which modality and import limit it holds.
- Ask your broker whether your operation files on the DI or the DUIMP today, and check it against the Siscomex shutdown schedule and simulator.
- Get a full landed-cost estimate using CIF value, the state of clearance and the cClassTrib code, and add storage time for a possible licence delay.
To compare logistics companies that handle Brazilian imports, browse the CargoLinked directory, where more than 29,300 logistics companies are searchable by country and service, or post your shipment on the public requests board, where shippers list freight for forwarders to quote on directly.
This guide is general information as of 27 October 2026, not legal, tax or customs advice. Brazilian import rules, dates and tax treatment change frequently and some details here come from secondary summaries. Confirm current requirements with the Receita Federal, the Portal Único Siscomex and the relevant agencies, or with a licensed customs broker, before you ship.
