Brazil Poised to Accept ATA Carnets For Olympics

UPDATE: As of January 1, 2022, Brazil Officially Left ATA Carnet System - No Longer Accepts or Issues ATA Carnets. More Info.

Brazil Readies for Implementation of ATA Carnet System

Brazil continues to move toward ATA Carnet acceptance and issuing to facilitate temporary imports in time for the 2016 Olympics. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and WATAC (World ATA Council) have provided this update:

• Brazilian customs (RFB) has a goal to implement ATA Carnets well before the Rio Olympics.
• A five day training session by the Portuguese national guaranteeing association with RFB and the Brazilian national guaranteeing association (CNI) was conducted in August 2015.
• Brazil will begin accepting carnets before they begin to issue carnets.
• Initial acceptance of carnets would be available through only 2 Brazilian cities: the seaports and airports of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. More ports will be added at a later stage.
• Transit operations would not be supported initially.
• Professional equipment and goods for fairs and exhibitions would be accepted with the possibility that commercial samples may not be accepted.

Carnet Implementation in Brazil Pending Changes in Import Licenses

Further to this update, in December 2015 the ATA Carnet system was presented to Brazilian regulatory agencies concerned. A request was made to find ways to streamline or waive the request for standard Brazilian preliminary licenses. Revised rules on the treatment of these import licenses were reviewed mid-January. These await approval and a follow-up meeting is scheduled for mid-February where it is hoped that an agreement will be reached.

Once the rules for treatment of import licenses is approved it is expected Brazil will quickly announce an effective date for the acceptance of carnets. CNI, the Brazilian national guaranteeing association has already met all its obligations and is prepared to act quickly with RFB to bring ATA Carnets into force.

Boomerang Carnets®' Alternate Plan for Rio Temporary Imports, "Just In Case"

In spite of this reassurance that carnets will be accepted in Brazil in time for Rio 2016, boomerang carnets® is developing an alternate plan with a key partner currently operating in Brazil. Should ATA Carnets NOT be accepted in time for Rio 2016, carnet users that need to get Olympics-related shipments into Brazil temporarily should contact Curt Wilson at 847-852-3101.

Download the Rio 2016 Customs & Freight Manual.