Database

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BRAZIL

N/A

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Ratification of the UN Convention of Electronic Communications
Lack of signature of the UN Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts
Brazil has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

Since January 1999, last amended in May 2020

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Threshold for ‘De Minimis’ rule
Low of de minimis threshold
According to Art. 1 of Ministerial Ordinance 156/1999, goods that are part of international postal delivery up to USD 50 (below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) are exempt from customs duties, provided that the seller and buyer are physical persons.
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

Since August 2009

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Restrictions on domain names
Resolution of the Director's Board of the National Agency for Health Surveillance 44/2009 (Resolução da Diretoria da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária 44/2009)
Online pharmacies need to have a "com.br" or "far.br" domains. Internet pharmacies are permitted in Brazil only if the Internet pharmacy is the website component of a licensed Brazilian brick-and-mortar pharmacy according to Art. 53.2 of Resolution of the Director's Board of the National Agency for Health Surveillance 44/2009.
Coverage Online pharmacies

BRAZIL

Since November 2008

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Restrictions on domain names
Resolution of the Internet Steering Committee 2008/008/P (Resolução do Comitê Gestor da Internet 2008/008/P)
Foreign companies can register a domain ".br" after the conclusion of a special registration, which requires a local legal representative and a declaration that the company will establish activities in Brazil within 12 months from the registration, according to Resolution of the Internet Steering Committee 2008/008/P.
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

Since June 1999
Since September 2017

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Limits on e-commerce purchases
Ministerial Ordinance No. 156/1999 - Ministry of Finance (Portaria Ministerial No. 156/1999 - Ministério da Fazenda)

Normative Instruction 1737 of 15 September 2017 of the Federal Revenue Secretariat (Instrução Normativa 1737 de 15 de setembro de 2017 da Secretaria da Receita Federal)
The Brazilian Government charges a flat 60% duty for all express shipments imported through the Simplified Customs Clearance process. The Simplified Customs Clearance process limits commercial shipments to USD 100,000 per importer per year, according to Art. 37 of Normative Instruction 1737/2017. Moreover, Brazilian Customs have established express services maximum per-shipment value limits of USD 3,000 for imports, according to Art. 1 of Ministerial Ordinance 156/1999. This is reported to affect particularly online sales.
Coverage Express shipments

BRAZIL

Since August 2014

Pillar Online sales and transactions  |  Sub-pillar Restrictions on online payments
Interpretative Act No. 7 of August 2014 (Ato Declaratório Interpretativo No. 7 - 2014)
The Interpretative Act No. 7 of August 2014, issued by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Secretariat (Receita Federal do Brasil – RFB), deals with the taxation of cross-border payments for the use of data centers located outside Brazil. It applies to all amounts paid, credited, delivered or remitted by individuals or legal entities resident or domiciled in Brazil to companies headquartered abroad that are identified as offshore data centers.
According to the Act, when the Brazilian source of payment hires offshore data centers for the use of infrastructure for storage and remote high-performance data processing systems, the transactions are deemed to be typical provision of services, and cannot be characterized as rental of movable assets, for tax purposes. The consequence of this interpretation is that the use of offshore data centers triggers the following federal taxes in Brazil:
- Withholding income tax (Imposto sobre a Renda Retido na Fonte – IRFF) at the rate of 15% or 25% whenever the recipient is located in a tax haven jurisdiction;
- Cide-royalties contribution (Contribuição de Intervenção no Domínio Econômico destinada a financiar o Programa de Estímulo à Interação Universidade-Empresa para o Apoio à Inovação – Cide-royalties), at the rate of 10%;
- PIS-importation contribution (Contribuição para o PIS/Pasep-Importação) at the rate of 1.65%;
- Cofins-importation contribution (Contribuição para o Cofins-Importação) at the rate of 7.6%; and
- IOF (Imposto sobre Operações de Câmbio), which is the financial tax levied on the foreign exchange transaction, at the rate of 0.38%.
Coverage Online payments

BRAZIL

Since October 2019
Since November 2020
Since June 2021

Pillar Technical standards applied to ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Self-certification for product safety
Resolution No. 715. Regulation for Conformity Assessment and Homologation of Telecommunications Products (Regulamento de Avaliação da Conformidade e de Homologação de Produtos para Telecomunicações. Resolução No.715)

Act No. 7,280 (Ato No. 7,280)

Act No. 3,939 (Ato No. 3,939)
Homologation is mandatory for the use and commercialization of telecommunication products in the country (Art. 55 of Resolution No. 715), and the country accepts third-party certification from Conformity Assessment Bodies from a number of countries with Mutual Recognition Agreements (Art. 8 of Resolution No. 715).
Act No. 7,280 list and clarifies the type of conformity assessment that correspond to radio frequency emitting products of telecommunications. The majority of the products contained in the reference list of telecom products require testing and includes: antennas; energy accumulators (batteries); coaxial cables; optical cables and fiber optics; data transmission cables; telephone cables; chargers for mobile phone and lithium batteries; switching centers; broadcasting equipment; rf equipment (except broadcasting) such as BPL equipment, mobile phones, modems, digital transmitters, and transceivers; optical equipment; data communication equipment; terminal equipment; IP terminal equipment (wireless); telephone wires; protective modules; digital multiplex; rectifier systems; splitters; rectifier units. Act No. 3,939 is the regulation for homologation in Brazil, guiding the necessary steps of the procedure.
Coverage Telecommunications equipment

BRAZIL

Since January 2021

Pillar Technical standards applied to ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Product screening and additional testing requirements
Act No. 77 (Ato No. 77)
According to the guidelines of Act No. 77, when requesting the homologation of the product for telecommunications with ANATEL (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações), the applicant must present a declaration expressing which cybersecurity requirements the equipment and its supplier meet. There are concerns from the industry regarding the scope and definitions of this Act, including to which products the regulation applies and the lack of reliance on international standards. Among other provisions, it is reported that the Act mandates in a vague way to guarantee appropriate encryption methods.
Coverage Telecommunications equipment

BRAZIL

Since July 2011

Pillar Technical standards applied to ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Self-certification for product safety
National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO) Normative Ordinance No. 371, 29 December 2009 (Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Normalização e Qualidade Industrial (INMETRO) Portaria Normativa No. 371, de 29 de dezembro de 2009)
Normative Ordinance No. 371 introduced a mandatory certification for IT equipment (Voltage stabilizers) as of July 2011. Generally, testing must be performed in-country, unless the necessary capability does not exist in Brazil. Moreover, entities engaged in product testing and mandatory certification must be accredited by the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO).
Coverage IT equipment (Voltage stabilizers)

BRAZIL

Since October 2019

Pillar Technical standards applied to ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Self-certification for product safety
Resolution No. 715. Regulation for Conformity Assessment and Homologation of Telecommunications Products (Regulamento de Avaliação da Conformidade e de Homologação de Produtos para Telecomunicações. Resolução No. 715)
Brazil is a member of the System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components (IECEE), which is based on the principle of mutual recognition (reciprocal acceptance) by its members of test results for obtaining certification or approval at national level. Pursuant to Resolution No. 715, the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL; Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações) implements testing requirements for telecommunication products and equipment. Through subsequent implementing acts, ANATEL has reduced the frequency of testing requirements and introduced the use of a declaration of conformity with test results procedures for certain products, based on a risk analysis.
However, it has been reported that ANATEL needs to approve products that connect to the public telephone network. This approval process requires in-country testing, not accepting test reports from foreign accredited labs. This is the case of the following products, among others: Network routers with E1 WAN ports; WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n access points; GSM and CDMA cellular phones; Network switches; Satellite, Bluetooth; ZigBee products. Other products need certification by ANATEL. For example: Cell phones; Bluetooth headset; Wireless telephones, including DECT systems; Antenna systems; Digital communication systems; Security gateways; Wi-Fi modules.
Coverage Telecommunications equipment

BRAZIL

Since July 2011

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Import ban applied on ICT goods, products and online services
Ordinance 23, of 14 July 2011, of the Secretary of Foreign Trade (Portaria 23, de 14 de julho de 2011, da Secretaria de Comércio Exterior)
According to Art. 41 of Ordinance 23 of July 2011 of the Secretary of Foreign Trade the importation of used machinery, equipment, devices, instruments, molds, and containers are prohibited unless these used goods are not produced in the country, or are irreplaceable by other similar products manufactured in the country. Art. 42 establishes that imports of used computer and used telecommunications products are only allowed under limited circumstances.
Coverage Used computer and used telecommunications products

BRAZIL

Since October 2020

Pillar Quantitative trade restrictions for ICT goods, products and online services  |  Sub-pillar Other import restrictions, including non-transparent/discriminatory import procedures
Normative Instruction 1984 of 2020, of the Federal Revenue Secretariat (Instrução Normativa 1984, de 2020, da Secretaria da Receita Federal)
According to Art. 4 of Normative Instruction 1984, a declarant of goods is defined as importers, exporters, purchasers of imported goods on their own account, orders of imported goods, and legal entities domiciled in the Manaus Free Trade Zone (ZFM) that promote the admission of goods to the rest of the national territory. According to Art. 16, declarants require authorization to operate in foreign trade, which may be granted in one of the following ways:
I - Express, in the case of a legal entity incorporated as an open joint stock company, with shares traded in the stock exchange; or a public company or government-controlled company;
II - Limited, in the case of a declarant of assets not included in the Express form whose financial capacity is estimated in an amount equal to or less than the maximum limit established in Art. 17;.
In accordance with Art. 17, the declarant of goods qualified in the limited modality may carry out import operations, in each consecutive six-month period, up to the limit of USD 50,000, or its equivalent in another currency, if its estimated financial capacity is equal to or less than that amount. Alternatively, if its estimated financial capacity is between USD 50,000 and USD 150,000, then the declarant can carry out imports operations until USD 150,000. To determine the limits established in this article, import operations shall be considered at the customs value of the goods.
Coverage Horizontal

BRAZIL

Since 2014

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar Safe harbor for intermediaries for any activity other than copyright infringement
Law 12.965, of 2014 - Internet Civil Regulation (Lei 12.965, de 2014 - Regulamento Civil da Internet)
The Law 12,965 of 2014 (Internet Civil Regulation) introduces a liability exemption for Internet connection providers and the application of the safe harbor doctrine for other Internet application providers. Art. 18 addresses the liability of Internet connection providers, grants an exception to those services regarding intermediary liability. It states that “the Internet connection provider shall not be subject to civil liability for content generated by third party”. Art. 19, which addresses Internet application providers (excluding connection providers) states that “in order to ensure freedom of expression and to prevent censorship, an Internet application provider shall only be subject to civil liability for damages caused by virtue of content generated by third parties if, after specific court order, it does not take action, according to the framework and technical limits of its services and within the time-frame ordered, to make the infringing content unavailable.”
Coverage Internet intermediaries

BRAZIL

Reported in 2021

Pillar Intermediary liability  |  Sub-pillar User identity requirement
Mandatory SIM card registration
It is reported that Brazil imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card, or a passport in case of foreigners, to activate a new prepaid SIM card. According to Art. 42 of the Resolution No. 477, users must provide a minimum set of personal data to be able to subscribe to a mobile telephone service. This information includes name, identity card number, and taxpayer number.
Coverage Telecommunications sector

BRAZIL

Since August 2018, entry into force in September 2020

Pillar Domestic Data policies  |  Sub-pillar Requirement to perform an impact assessment (DPIA) or have a data protection officer (DPO)
Law No. 13.709, of 14 August 2018, General Personal Data Protection Law (Lei No. 13.709, de 14 de agosto de 2018, Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados Pessoais)
Privacy impact assessments must be provided to the Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados (ANPD, National Data Protection Authority) upon request. Therefore, even though they are not initially mandatory, it is highly recommended to have them already developed. The ANPD may require the controller to prepare a DPIA relating to its data processing operations, as provided for by the regulations, with due regard to commercial and industrial secrecy (Art. 10(§3º) of Law No. 13.709). This DPIA should contain at least a description of the types of data collected, the methodology used for collection and as a guarantee for the security of the information, an analysis of the controller in relation to the measures, safeguards, and risk mitigation mechanisms adopted (Art. 38).
Coverage Horizontal