AMERICAS: BORDERS REPORT
Brazil’s land border DF shops are ‘work in progress’ but issues persist
It came as no surprise when the Asociación Sudamericana de Tiendas Libres indicated at the end of last year that a second meeting to discuss Brazil’s embryonic border duty free shops business would take place in 2020. Luke Barras-Hill surveys the landscape.
A
sociación Sudamericana de Tiendas Libres (ASUTIL) Secretary General José Luis
Donagaray, Secretary General, ASUTIL revealed recently that the second edition of Primer Encuentro de Border Duty Free Shops de América Latina La Frontera Hoy is planned to take place in Brazil’s Foz do Iguaçu this November. The Latin America border store
conference, a co-operation between ASUTIL and the Chamber of Free Shops of Uruguay, drew around 170 delegates to Porto Alegre in November to discuss (among other matters) the new land border duty free trade in Brazil. “People were very satisfied,”
comments Donagaray. “They got a lot of information – from the customs and fiscal side, how to develop the business and the threats and opportunities – and the new operators had the ability to meet suppliers. The results over exceeded our expectations.” As reported, Receita Federal
(Brazil’s federal revenue service) has permitted operators to run shops in any of Brazil’s 32 twin cities bordering variously with Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia,
MARCH 2020
French Guiana, Uruguay, Guyana, Venezuela and Suriname. Six operators received shop
licences last year and ASUTIL announced during the meeting that a further seven would follow, lifting the tally to 13. Among those currently open are
Dufry do Brasil in Uruguaiana [see purple panel on p46], Caraballat Free Shop in Jaguarão and Emporio Duty Free in Barra do Quarai. Of the seven new shops
announced, Sky Duty Free has up until now been waiting patiently to unveil its premises in Foz do Iguaçu. Having been granted its operating
licence in December, the company is planning to unveil a store this April, pending the arrival and clearance of a final product shipment. The two-floor, 550sq m store will
feature brands from Pernod Ricard, Diageo, JTI, Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris, Bacardi, Estée Lauder, Brown-Forman and a medley of others. “Our store has been ready since
2019; we were just waiting for the licence,” comments Alex Beridze, Director of Operations and Business Development. “In Brazil, until you receive the
municipality licence it takes a long time. In other countries you can bring products in a free zone and wait to receive your licence and then you open. In Brazil that does not exist. If you don’t have the licence, when the goods arrive you have to pay all the duties. “No licence means you cannot
open the store. The law was passed but it didn’t mean the software was ready. Now we hope we won’t face any more trouble.”
Buying quota lifts to $1,000 In December, Mercosur bloc countries approved regulation to increase the purchase quota for tourists travelling through the region to $1,000. “That limit is very important
“ASUTIL is bringing to Brazilian customs some issues and at the same time some proposals in order to develop further the border shop operations.”
Gustavo Fagundes, President, ASUTIL
TRBUSINESS 45
Above: Dufry shop in Uruguaiana.
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