Receiver pays shipping in Brazil: how freight collect works on international shipments

Receiver pays shipping means the person or company receiving the goods books and pays for transport. On shipments into or out of Brazil, that happens when the buyer uses its own carrier account or agrees an Incoterm such as EXW or FCA. Import duties and taxes are a separate bill, and they usually fall on the receiver too.

Trouble starts when each side assumes something different. The supplier thinks it sent the goods "freight collect", the buyer thinks the price included everything, and the box sits waiting for someone to pay. Putting in writing who pays freight, who pays taxes and on which account settles almost every one of these standoffs.

What do "freight paid by the receiver, the sender or a third party" mean in Brazil?

They are the three possible answers to one question: who contracts the transport. With sender pays, the shipper chooses the carrier and pays. With receiver pays, the consignee takes on that bill. With third party pays, another company covers it, such as a head office buying for a branch.

In Brazil this choice has its own field on the NF-e, the electronic invoice every company issues when goods move. The "modalidade do frete" field (modFrete) takes the codes below, according to Annex I of the Taxpayer Guidance Manual (MOC) 7.0, as updated by Technical Note 2016.002. Source: Portal da Nota Fiscal Eletrônica, October 2026.

Brazilian buyers often search for "frete por conta do emitente" (freight paid by the issuer). That is code 0: on a sales invoice, the issuer is the sender. CIF and FOB appear here only as labels for the tax field. In international trade, the Incoterms with those names carry their own rules on risk and cost, and they are not the same thing as the invoice code.

How does freight collect work on an international shipment?

It works through an import account. The buyer in Brazil holds an account with the carrier, books the pickup at the supplier's address abroad and receives the freight invoice. The supplier only prepares the box and the paperwork.

For importers without an account, DHL Express offers a service in Brazil listed as "Pago pelo destinatário" (receiver paid): the importer arranges and prepays a door to door shipment, usually by credit card, while import duties and taxes follow the standard procedure. Source: DHL Express Brazil, Optional Services page, updated December 2025 and effective from January 2026.

Your own account pays off when imports repeat. You negotiate the rate once, see every shipment in one dashboard and stop depending on whichever carrier the supplier happens to use. The full process for bringing goods into the country is in the guide to importing into Brazil.

Does receiver pays shipping include Brazilian import taxes?

No. Freight and taxes are separate bills, even when both land on the receiver. Under Brazil's Customs Regulation (Decree 6,759/2009, art. 104), the taxpayer for Import Duty is the importer, meaning whoever brings the goods into the country.

For express shipments, the DHL Express Terms and Conditions of Carriage state that the receiver may have to pay duties and charges before delivery. When the seller wants to spare the customer that step, the taxes can be billed to the sender or a third party instead, through the DHL Express Duty Tax Paid (DTP) option. That is the logic of Incoterm DDP.

How taxes are calculated on courier imports follows its own rules, explained in the article on Brazil's Simplified Taxation Regime for courier imports.

Which Incoterm fits receiver pays shipping?

The Incoterms in which the buyer contracts the main carriage are EXW, FCA, FAS and FOB. For door to door express shipping, the two you will see most are EXW and FCA.

• EXW: the buyer collects at the seller's door and handles everything, including export clearance at origin. The guide to Incoterm EXW covers the risks of that setup.
• FCA: the seller hands over to the carrier named by the buyer, with export clearance done. It is usually the healthier balance.
• CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU and DDP: the seller pays freight to destination, and the buyer only deals with the taxes (except under DDP, where not even that).

If a supplier writes "freight collect" in an email, it means receiver pays shipping. Ask for the term and the Incoterm to appear on the proforma and on the commercial invoice.

When does it make sense for the receiver to pay?

It makes sense when the receiver buys often and has the volume to negotiate. A manufacturer bringing in parts from three Asian suppliers every month gains more by running freight through one account than by accepting three rates built into each supplier's price.

It also pays off for samples and prototypes: you control the pickup, know when the box leaves and stop the supplier from choosing the cheapest, slowest service. It does not pay off when the receiver is an end consumer abroad. For online sellers, freight collect at checkout tends to kill conversion, and the better route is to build freight into the price or charge it clearly.

What should you agree with the supplier before the goods ship?

Agree four points in writing, ideally on the proforma:

1. Who pays international freight and on which account number.
2. Which Incoterm applies and the exact place where risk passes to the buyer.
3. Who pays import taxes in Brazil.
4. What value and description go on the commercial invoice, which must match what was paid.

In practice, the account number is the detail that jams most often. If the supplier prints the label without the importer's account, the freight lands on the supplier's bill, and the argument over reimbursement starts after the box has left.

What happens if the receiver does not pay?

The bill goes back to the sender. The DHL Express Terms and Conditions of Carriage state that if the receiver refuses the shipment or does not pay duties and charges, DHL will try to return it to the sender at the sender's cost, and the sender must reimburse whatever is still owed.

That is why experienced suppliers ask the buyer to send the account details before dispatch. Deciding who pays each part is what keeps the operation predictable for both sides, the topic of the article on who pays the tariffs on imports.

Frequently asked questions about receiver pays shipping in Brazil

Sources

• Portal da Nota Fiscal Eletrônica: MOC 7.0, Anexo I: Leiaute e Regras de Validação da NF-e e NFC-e (campo modFrete, NT 2016.002)
• Planalto: Decreto nº 6.759/2009 (Regulamento Aduaneiro), arts. 77 e 104
• DHL Express Brasil: Serviços Opcionais (atualizado em 01/12/2025, vigente desde 01/01/2026)
• DHL Express Brasil: Termos e Condições de Transporte
• DHL Express Brasil: Serviços Aduaneiros (Duty Tax Paid)

Bring your imports onto your own account

When freight is on your side, so are the choice of service, the pickup date and the tracking. With a business account you book collection at the supplier, follow every shipment and get one invoice for the month's imports.

If your company already imports regularly, open a DHL Express business account and negotiate freight from your side of the table.