The world of international trade is quite complex and full of possibilities that are not always well used by exporters and importers. For example: did you know that it is possible to import an entire container and still pay the nationalization taxes in a “parcel” way, by removing the load in smaller parts than the complete container? The name of this is the Customs Bonded Warehouse Regime, and we will comment on it a little further below.
What is bonded warehouse?
Bonded warehouse is a type of Special Customs Regime, legally based on the Customs Regulation and by IN-SRF nº 241/02, which works for both import and export.
In this regime, importers or exporters can make use of taxation benefits during the period in which their cargoes are stored in bonded warehouses in a secondary zone, and can remove the goods in a partitioned manner, collecting nationalization taxes according to the departure schedule of loads.
What are the benefits of using bonded warehouse?
During the use of the customs warehousing regime, the interested company can benefit from the temporary suspension of taxes and the agility in logistical issues, such as the possibility of partitioning the delivery of cargo according to its actual demand. Among the most important benefits, we can mention:
Agility and practicality
Companies that use foreign trade to add to their operations in national territory do not always have this activity as their core businessIt is important to have options that can offer facilities when nationalizing and quickly delivering goods to various customers, for example.
The bonded warehouse terminal is a bonded warehouse that generally has an extensive logistical network, which is able and used to the procedures for releasing, separating and shipping cargo faster than the others.
Cost savings
Imagine that your cargo, which occupies an entire container, arrived in Brazil, but all of a sudden, the dollar rose a lot and now it is more prudent to wait a while to carry out nationalization after the stabilization of the international currency.
If the company decides to wait this long with the cargo stored in a customs terminal in the primary zone (port of entry), the costs will be very high and may even make the business as a whole unfeasible. The bonded warehouse acts, in these cases, as an option to reduce costs, since the tariffs of the so-called “secondary zone warehouses” can easily reach a level above 30% cheaper than other terminals.
Allows splitting operations
In another scenario, we can think of an operation in which four containers are arriving that will be resold to two different customers.
What if one of them gives up on the purchase? Imagine the impact that would have on the company's cash flow, which, all of a sudden, would need to pay the full amount of taxes, nationalize the entire load and wait until it was able to sell it to another customer!
Under the customs warehousing regime, companies can store the cargo and nationalize it in a partitioned manner, paying taxes referring only to the cargo that will immediately leave the terminal while the other waits for nationalization in a timely manner.
In the example above, the company could leave the two containers of the withdrawn customer stored, with temporary suspension of taxes, while nationalizing the other two normally, impacting its cash flow much less.
Works for import and export
The bonded warehouse regime is not an exclusive option for import operations. He is also a great ally of exporting companies. Bringing it to a day-to-day case, we can think of an export that, due to the current logistical scenario, whose shipments are increasingly competitive, cannot board the planned ship and the new departure date is 45 days from now. If the company decides to leave the cargo idle at the primary zone terminal, the storage cost will be very high, perhaps even making the operation unfeasible. If the exporter decides to remove the cargo to the dry port (secondary zone) under customs warehousing, the savings will be significant.
How to use the bonded warehouse?
The use of the customs warehousing regime starts with its request when the cargo arrives at the origin or destination terminal, that is, when it would be effectively exported or imported.
The process is carried out by the Siscomex System, in which an Admission Statement is issued, which will later be parameterized, attesting to the Federal Revenue's concession.
After the concession, the merchandise may follow this regime for the standard period of one year, which may be extended up to two years if necessary.
Once this period has expired, the regime must be completed by one of the three possibilities: consumption (effective registration of the DI and tax collection), effective export or transfer to another Special Customs Regime.
Based on this information, it is understood that the Bonded Warehouse Regime is an excellent opportunity for companies to benefit both financially and in terms of logistics.
If you want to better understand this option or simulate scenarios to save on your operations, just get in touch!