WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/LIC/N/2/BRA/4 
8 December 2008 
 (08-5989) 
Committee on Import Licensing Original:   English 
  
AGREEMENT ON IMPORT LICENSING PROCEDURES 
 
Notification under Article 5
 
 
BRAZIL 
 
 
The following communication, dated 26 November 2 008, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Brazil. 
_______________ 
 
(a) List of products subject to licensing procedures  
  As a general rule, import licensing is not re quired in Brazil.  However, whenever import 
licensing is requested, application for both au tomatic import licensing and non-automatic import 
licensing are effected using Brazil’s electronic system of foreign trade, known as SISCOMEX.  
 
The list of products subject to import licensing is  available on the webpage of the Ministry of 
Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (www.desenvolvimento.gov.br) and also on the 
SISCOMEX.   
(b) Contact point for information on eligibility 
 
 
 Contact must be made with the Departme nt of Foreign Trade Operations (DECEX), 
subordinated to the Foreign Trade Secretariat (SECEX ) of the Ministry of Development, Industry and 
Foreign Trade (MDIC), at the following address:  
Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco J, 3
o andar- Brasília (DF), Brasil 
 Information may also be directly obtained by accessing SISCOMEX. 
 
(c) Administrative bodies for submission of applications  
  Applications must be submitted to the Departme nt of Foreign Trade Operations (DECEX).  It 
is worth mentioning that since 1997, when SISCOM EX was implemented, the importer is able to 
access and register import licenses directly from his/her company, or by means of authorized banks, specialized companies, entities and firms whic h deal with the cited system.       
 
 Depending on the product, the following Governmental bodies may be also in charge of the 
licensing:  
ANCINE- National Cinema Agency; 
ANEEL – National Electric Energy Agency; ANP – National Petroleum Agency; ANVISA – National Health Surveillance Agency; G/LIC/N/2/BRA/4 
Page 2  
 
  CNEN – Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission; 
COMEXE – Brazilian Army; DNPM – National Department of Mineral Production; DPF – Department of Federal Police; EBCT – Brazilian Mail and Telegraph Company; 
IBAMA – Brazilian Institute of Environm ent and Natural Renewable Resources; 
INMETRO-National Institute of Metrology,  Standardization a nd Industrial Quality 
MAPA – Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply; MCT – Ministry of Science and Technology. 
 
 The list of the products which are subject to automatic and non-automatic licensing, the 
contact information of the competent Governmental  body and the concerned legislation can be found 
on the webpage of the Ministry of De velopment, Industry and Foreign Trade 
(www.desenvolvimento.gov.br)
.  
  
(d) Date and name of publication where import licensing procedures are published  
 - Directive MDIC no. 235 of December 7, 200 6, published in the Official Gazette on 
8 December 2006;  
- Directive SECEX no. 36 of November 22, 2007, published in the Official Gazette on 
26 November 2007; 
- Directive SECEX no. 39 of December 4, 2007,  published in the Official Gazette on 
6 December 2007; 
- Directive SECEX no. 1 of January 15, 2008, publis hed in the Official Gazette on 17 January  
2008; 
- Directive SECEX no. 4 of March 11, 2008, pub lished in the Official Gazette on 13 March 
2008; 
- Directive SECEX no. 5 of March 31, 2008, publis hed in the Official Gazette on 2 April 2008; 
- Directive SECEX no. 6 of May 5, 2008, publis hed in the Official Gazette on 6 May 2008; 
- Directive SECEX no. 13 of July 17, 2008, publishe d in the Official Gazette on 21 July 2008;  
- Directive SECEX no. 17 of August 27, 2008, published in the Official Gazette on 29 August 
2008; 
- Directive SECEX no. 18 of September 1, 2008,  published in the Official Gazette on 19 May 
2008; 
- Directive SECEX no. 19 of September 9, 2008, published in the Official Gazette on 
11 September 2008; 
- Directive SECEX no. 22 of September 30, 2008, published in the Official Gazette on 
6 October 2008. 
 
 Note: Automatic consolidation of all Direc tives related to imports - "Consolidation of 
Directives SECEX (importation)" - is ava ilable on the above mentioned webpage.  
 
(e) Indication of whether the procedure is automatic or non-automatic
 
 
 Such indication is available in Directive SECEX No 36/2007 and on the web page of the 
Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. Currently, both modalities of licensing are 
applied.  
(f) Administrative purpose of automatic licensing procedures
 
  Information obtained by SISCOMEX is used fo r statistic monitoring, follow-up of the trade 
flows related to drawback operations , which involve legal suspension of taxes, or to some products of 
interest to the foreign trade policy.  G/LIC/N/2/BRA/4 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
(g) Indication of the measure being implemen ted through the non-automatic licensing procedure  
  According to legislation mentioned in the no tifications under articles 1.4(a) and 8.2(b), the 
following types of operations constitute examples of situations in which there is licensing control on 
the part of governmental bodies. This is a non-exhaustive list:  
 
- products which may pose risks to human, animal or plant health; 
- products which may cause environmental damage; 
- products classified as weapons or made for warlike objectives; 
- products subject to non-tariff and tariff quotas as established in Agreements of the Uruguay 
Round. 
 
(h) Expected duration of the licensing procedures
 
 
 There is no deadline for the elimination of th e adopted measures, considering the importance 
of the goals indicated in indent "g", above. As for products subject to non-tariff quotas, the duration of 
the licensing procedure is restricted to the peri od established in the international agreement.  
  
__________