Shipping internationally from Latin America's largest e-commerce market offers incredible growth potential, but navigating cross-border logistics requires precision. For Brazilian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) expanding via digital platforms like VTEX or Nuvemshop, the border represents the ultimate test of supply chain efficiency.
When you manage international shipping from Brazil, failing to align your paperwork with local and international mandates triggers immediate friction. Complying with both the Receita Federal (Brazilian Federal Revenue) and destination market authorities keeps your operations running efficiently.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the core reasons why cross-border shipments face administrative roadblocks and provide actionable strategies to get your products delivered to global customers right on time.
What is customs clearance and why does it matter for Brazilian businesses?
The customs clearance process is the official regulatory procedure that allows goods to legally enter or exit a country. When commercial inventory leaves Brazil or enters a foreign jurisdiction, it must be formally declared to border authorities through a mandatory process known as a customs declaration.
This submission is a set of standardized records containing critical data about the transported commodities, transaction value, and tax classification. As the shipper of record, your business is legally responsible for providing this electronic data with absolute accuracy.
Based on your customs declaration and the information pulled from your corporate tax registry (CNPJ), border authorities conduct a rigorous assessment. They verify whether your cargo is fully legal, check compliance with local export quotas, and issue a formal Duties & Tax Assessment indicating the exact fiscal amounts that must be settled.
Once these regulatory charges are paid and validated, officials confirm the Customs Release or "Customs Clearance". While clearance often happens at the precise moment your shipment reaches the destination country, any data mismatch along the way will halt your package instantly.
Failing to comply with international customs regulations means authorities may hold your goods to carry out manual document reviews or physical cargo inspections.
In severe cases of non-compliance, your merchandise may even be seized by foreign border agents. According to trade data from SEBRAE, administrative errors are a top cause of international fulfillment failures for growing brands.
For your enterprise, these logistics bottlenecks translate directly to delayed customer deliveries, expensive warehouse storage fees, cancelled orders, and long-term damage to user trust.
7 reasons for customs clearance delays—and how to avoid them
1. Inaccurate or incomplete data and documentation
Inaccurate or missing data on your international transport files is a leading reason for border holds. To ensure an effortless clearance process when operating international shipping lanes, you must provide an error-free Commercial Invoice that features an exhaustive goods description, accurate unit values, and correct classification codes.
Solution: The Commercial Invoice and the Air Waybill (AWB) require strict operational focus from your fulfillment team. When creating your invoice via local ERPs like Bling or Tiny, write a highly descriptive, plain-language breakdown of the item (e.g., write "100% organic cotton women's knitted t-shirt" instead of just "clothing"). Insufficient product description is one of the single largest triggers for manual customs inspections.
2. Mismatched or incorrect tax codes
Harmonized System Codes (commonly known as HS Codes or tariff codes) are globally standardized numerical classifications used by border authorities to identify a shipment’s contents and calculate exact import taxes. Because Brazil utilizes the 8-digit Nomenclatura Comum do Mercosul (NCM) system for domestic invoicing, exporters frequently make the mistake of printing unmapped NCM codes on global shipping labels, stalling automated sorting networks.
Solution: Your team must systematically map the local Brazilian NCM code to the international 6-digit HS code format before printing shipping labels. You can confirm your target market's specific code using official customs portals or by leveraging the AI-guided directory within DHL’s MyGTS platform.
3. Undervaluation of commercial goods
Exporters are legally required to declare the true transaction value of their merchandise on the Commercial Invoice. Attempting to lower destination import taxes by artificially reducing the declared product price is an illegal practice that triggers aggressive fraud screenings by global customs agencies.
Solution: Always declare the exact market value matching the actual payment received from your customer, explicitly noting the trading currency (such as USD or EUR) for every item line. If border agents suspect an item is undervalued, they will pause the shipment and demand the buyer provide verified credit card receipts or bank transaction logs. If fraud is confirmed, authorities will issue heavy fiscal penalties, adjust the tax assessment upward, and potentially blacklist your company from future trade routes.
2. Incorrect HS Code
What is an HS Code? Harmonized System Codes (also known as Tariff Codes) are globally standardized commodity codes used to classify the exact type of goods being shipped. Without these, customs authorities cannot identify a shipment’s contents or calculate the taxes and duties due.
Solution: You can find the HS Code for your product via your country’s government website, or with DHL’s MyGTS (My Global Trade Services) tool.
3. Undervaluation of goods
You will be required to declare the value of the goods on the Commercial Invoice. Some shippers try to reduce their import customs duty by undervaluing their goods, which is illegal in most countries globally, and may result in fines and penalties by authorities. Therefore, we strongly advise shippers to always declare the true value of the goods!
If customs authorities raise a suspect of goods being undervalued, the receiver will be contacted and requested to provide proof of payment or a receipt for the goods purchased. If undervaluation is confirmed, this may result in a higher duties and taxes assessment for the shipment, as well as potential fines and penalties imposed by authorities (and possible restrictions of future shipments.)
Solution: Be transparent and declare the true market value of the goods being shipped, along with the currency. The value must be accurately declared for each item of the Commercial Invoice. This guide will help you to calculate and declare the correct value.
4. Non-compliance with localized import and export rules
Every nation enforces distinct trade regulations, specific product standards, and strict lists of restricted or prohibited items at its borders. Ignoring these destination boundaries risks having your international cargo held, heavily fined, or destroyed by border patrols.
Solution: Thoroughly research the product compliance laws of your destination market well before processing your inventory. Depending on your industry, you may need to secure specialized pre-authorization forms, health certificates, or licenses from local oversight bodies like ANVISA (for cosmetics and supplements) or international equivalents before dispatching your freight.
5. Failure to settle duties and taxes on time
Import customs duties and regional sales taxes must be fully paid and cleared before border authorities will release incoming cargo into the destination country. Allowing these regulatory fees to sit unpaid leaves your packages highly vulnerable to delivery abandonment or forced return-to-origin procedures.
Solution: Establish clear terms of sale (Incoterms) at checkout so both you and your customer know exactly who bears the financial responsibility for import fees. To streamline this step, DHL Express can pay these mandatory import duties and taxes directly to government bodies on your behalf when your items land at the border terminal. Your business is then billed for those exact outlays under two primary frameworks:
Delivery Duty Paid (DDP): The shipper pays all destination fees upfront during label generation, allowing the package to pass directly to final-mile delivery without contacting the receiver.
Delivery Duty Unpaid (DDU/DAP): The receiver is billed directly before delivery. If they have a carrier account, the system bills them automatically; if not, they receive a secure digital link to make an instant online payment. Urge your buyers to complete this digital payment immediately to ensure an uninterrupted delivery timeline.
6. Improper labeling or packaging
Displaying unreadable logistics labels or failing to show mandatory hazard markings will lead to your items being pulled from automated sorting belts. This requirement is strictly enforced when exporting restricted goods, consumer electronics, or components containing lithium batteries.
Solution: Verify the precise packaging and warning label requirements mandated by your destination country. Ensure all shipping labels are printed clearly, shielded from weather damage, and placed on flat surfaces where barcode scanners can read them instantly. If you are exporting complex or hazardous materials, consult a Certified International Specialist to confirm compliance before booking your freight.
7. Slow communication with customs agents
When the Receita Federal or destination border officers flag a shipment for administrative review, they will reach out to you or your customs broker to clarify product specs or demand missing tax identification. If your team fails to respond within a tight compliance window, authorities will reject the cargo.
Solution: Monitor your digital shipping dashboard daily and respond to all compliance requests immediately. Replying quickly to queries from your express carrier ensures that any missing data elements are submitted before a minor paperwork error escalates into an extended border bottleneck.
How do you transition from Brazilian NCM to global HS codes?
Brazilian businesses must actively convert domestic 8-digit NCM classifications into international 6-digit Harmonized System (HS) codes to clear foreign customs without delays. While the Nomenclatura Comum do Mercosul (NCM) governs tax rules inside Brazil and across regional trade blocs, it is not recognized by customs computers in North America, Europe, or Asia.
Failing to make this structural transition on your Commercial Invoice causes automated customs systems to flag your cargo for manual classification verification. To protect your supply chain, your fulfillment team should build a unified product catalog that links each internal corporate SKU to its domestic NCM code and its matching global HS classification. Doing this ensures your export invoices feature the precise, universally recognized numbers that border agents rely on to automate duty assessments and accelerate package releases.
MyGTS: Your gateway to easy international shipping
To speed up international shipping and simplify customs clearance, DHL Express has developed My Global Trade Services (MyGTS), an intuitive, all-in-one portal.
This free, user-friendly platform will help you navigate all international shipping regulations, seamlessly. You can log in with your existing DHL Express Business Account or register a new MyGTS account to access:
AI-Driven HS Code Support: Eliminate classification guesswork; MyGTS leverages advanced AI to provide potential tariff classifications for your products based on simple keywords or directory searches.
Landed Cost Calculator: Calculate an accurate pre-shipment estimate of your domestic product costs, target customs duties, destination sales taxes, and freight fees. This feature helps you refine your global pricing model and provide complete pricing transparency to your buyers.
Pre-Shipment Compliance Planner: Research up-to-date import and export restrictions, prohibited commodities, and target documentation rules for over 200 countries before you package your items.
Digital Product Catalog: Maintain a permanent, readily accessible record of your standard commodities within the platform, allowing you to save past searches, product dimensions, and verified tariff codes for fast repeat shipping.
For fast, international shipping, open a DHL Express Business Account.
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