Since 2009 in Brazil, the Receita Federal regulates and supervises the service of the so-called international couriers in Brazil, with several exclusive rules that are imposed on this modality of international transportation, which help to differentiate what are international couriers from other standard transports, such as the Correios and even ships.
COURIERS’ CONVENIENCES
One of the main concerns when importing any type of product is the inspection by the Receita Federal or the loss of the package during its international transport, and it is at these points that the international courier makes a difference when compared to the Correios or other means of international delivery. With the courier service, the company itself will take care of all the legal transmissions for you, avoiding headaches that could happen in other means, in addition, the importation is easier, with taxes being performed in a simplified way, considering 60% of the value in case of importation.
Couriers also have different rules from those imposed by the Correios in terms of shipping orders. While the Brazilian postal service has a maximum weight of 50kg per order, the orders from international couriers do not have a fixed weight limit, being defined by the company itself. But one fact is very important: express deliveries are only available for loads up to US$3000 in value.
WHERE COURIERS OPERATE
Another advantage of couriers is that, unlike conventional delivery services, they operate door to door, picking up or taking your package to the desired address, but they can only receive and send packages at certain airports, which may cause a higher freight if you do not live in any of these regions. Currently the airports where the Receita Federal allows international courier services are the following: Galeão, Guarulhos, Viracopos and Guararapes, and it is possible to find all the qualified companies and the location in which they operate on the Receita Federal’s own website.
WHAT COURIER COMPANIES CAN DO
International courier companies will work with the transport of express deliveries using the air means for this, because currently it is the only means allowed by Brazilian law. While the main way that international courier works is through express deliveries, companies can still transport non-express air cargo, however, in this case, the cargo will be exempt from the Regime de Tributação Simplificado (RTS) that is used in express orders – the 60% of the value of the goods in imports, and will be taken to a warehouse of the Receita Federal, where it will go through all the inspection process that exists in case of common deliveries.
WHEN TO USE A COURIER
The best way to use an international courier is when it is a package that will be used for your own use and needs to be delivered as soon as possible. As the transport company will perform all the logistics and all the inspection processes of the Receita Federal, such as the RTS, the delay in receiving and headaches will be less than by common means, in addition, because of the weight and size limits are imposed by the company itself, you can receive and send larger loads than is possible if you have opted for the Correios.
