Brazilian Revenue Authority adopts its first Time Release Study

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On 30 June 2020 the Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil (Receita Federal do Brasil), launched its first Time Release Study (TRS). TRS are a tool used by Customs, which follows a precise methodology developed by the World Customs Organizations (WCO), to determine the average time spent for the release of goods from their arrival until their effective exit from the area under customs control.

This exercise is aimed at identifying bottlenecks in the clearance process and release of goods, so that possible corrective measures can be developed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of border procedures. TRS are also one of the measures recommended by the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, that stipulates “Members are encouraged to measure and publish their average release time of goods periodically and in a consistent manner, using tools such as, inter alia, the Time Release Study of the World Customs Organization”.

The Brazilian TRS measures performance not only of Customs and other border agencies, but of agents on the import logistics chain as well. An in-depth and comprehensive picture is given of the stages of the import process and the procedures for import licensing, customs clearance and physical release of goods since their arrival in Brazil. To this end, the actions of the different agents are measured and analysed.

The results of the Study, in particular, show an average time measured of 7.5 days considering air, sea and road modes of transport. The Customs clearance process accounts for less than 10% of the total time measured, while those actions under the responsibility of private agents (e.g. international carriers, warehouse-keepers, importers and customs brokers), represent more than half of the total time spent in all flows analysed. To further increase transparency for importers and exporters, the Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil declared that the raw data of the TRS will be soon made available to the public.

Recently Benin, Malawi and Cap Vert also concluded TRS.

The Brazilian TRS can be downloaded from here.