With the publication of CAMEX (Foreign Trade Chamber) Resolution No. 90 and CAMEX Resolution No. 91 in Wednesday's edition of the Official Federal Gazette (DOU), the Foreign Trade Chamber, presided over by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), reached the milestone of 2,864 temporary import duty reductions (known as 'ex-tarifários' in Portuguese) approved in 2012. This figure represents the highest number of applications since the scheme was established in 2001, improving upon the 2,847 import duty reductions approved in 2011. The duty reduction scheme encourages investment in the expansion and restructuring of the national productive sector for goods and services through a temporary reduction in the import tax rate on capital goods and computer and telecommunications goods for which there is no equivalent national production.

The two new CAMEX resolutions grant temporary reductions in import tax (until December 31, 2013 for capital goods and June 30, 2014 for computer and telecommunications goods) for 168 'ex-tarifários', consisting of 157 new applications and 11 renewals. According to information provided by companies at the time of submitting applications to the MDIC, the global investments linked to the 168 import duty reductions approved in December amount to US$ 1.614 billion and investment in imports exceeds US$ 515 million. Projects benefiting from this initiative include the establishment of a factory in Alagoinhas, in the state of Bahia, with a capacity to produce six million hectoliters of beer and draft beer per year; the construction of a factory for packing liquid and homogeneous products, and products with varying densities and viscosities, in São Paulo; and the production of purified water used in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products to supply the domestic market and exports.

Record

The 2,864 applications approved in 2012 represent an increase of US$ 3.4 billion in global investments compared to the previous year. From January to December of this year, total global investment linked to the import duty reductions amounted to US$ 45.064 billion, whereas in 2011, the total value of projects linked to the scheme reached US$ 41.586 billion.  With regard to total investments, the oil (18.36%), rail (13.67%), mining (11.62%) and automotive (7.67 %) sectors benefited most in 2012.  Investments in imports also rose from US$ 5.6 billion to US$ 6.7 billion, an increase of US$ 1.1 billion in foreign purchases of equipment with tax reductions.

Source:
Ministério do Desenvolvimento Indústria e Comércio Exterior

27 December 2012