Right to shipping container?

09/11/23    I heard once you establish residency you have a right to one shipping container to move your stuff. Any help with the rules on that? Are some things barred? I’d like to bring my stuff and gardening things, maybe agricultural drone and small machinery. Is there a time limit? Size? Thanks!         -@rnbtg

That is correct.  You have the right to ship one seaborne container and one airborne container duty-free to Brazil as part of your permanent relocation.  You may not ship earlier than the issue date of your CRNM, and your shipment must arrive within six months of your receiving permanent residency.  Check with your mover to find out if that rule has changed at all.

You absolutely want to use a mover with actual Brazil experience, and a partner at the Brazil end who's ready and equipped for a warm handoff.  The rules are extensive, intricate, and rigorously enforced, and you don't want somebody "learning by doing" on your dime, with your stuff.  I used Allied/North American, which are subsidiaries of the international logistics company Sirva, and can provide the required services and advice.

Your mover will tell you what's barred.  The drone's batteries, and any batteries, certainly will be and need to be hand-carried in your carry-on luggage, because you can't ship anything that could present a potential fire hazard.  Remember that your container will probably be on deck across the entire Torrid Zone from north to south, and maybe spend a few days on the pier of a tropical port on the north South American coast waiting for a pickup.  Everything is going to get warm.  You'll want to discuss the "small machinery" with the mover -- I suppose that it will depend on how small "small" is, and whether it will fit in the container with everything else.  I brought two Roombas -- I can get batteries here, but the other supplies I need to bring from the US on visits, so make sure that you have sufficient supplies for your equipment, if they're not obtainable here.  Gardening tools and any other tools are a good idea.

If you like, you can track your shipment's progress on www.marinetraffic.com .  I did because I enjoy this kind of stuff, but some people may find it too nerve-wracking, especially since "fastest way" can sometimes mean (as it did for me) the first leg of the trip on a Panama Canal-bound ship, then a layover in Colombia or thereabouts before catching a second ship for the rest of the trip.

Brazilian Customs officials conduct semi-permanent work stoppages, usually in the form of "Work-to-Rule" actions ("operação-padrão", "greve de zelo", "operação tartaruga") in which they move everything slowly and check every box on every form, so you'll probably pay for more demurrage than your should.  They also opened every single one of my boxes; nothing was confiscated, though.

I did an extensive write-up on this subject several years ago, but the thread I posted it in was lost in the last cleanup.  If it's useful to you, I can dig up most of the details.

Hello everyone,

Please note that this thread is now on the english-speaking Brazil forum.

All the best

Bhavna

Dang I missed the boat literally. It’s been more than six months. 😢 thanks!

09/11/23
    Dang I missed the boat literally. It’s been more than six months. 😢 thanks!
   

    -@rnbtg

Probably true, unfortunately, but it might be worth a short conversation with a mover to be sure.

    09/11/23    Dang I missed the boat literally. It’s been more than six months. 😢 thanks!         -@rnbtg

Probably true, unfortunately, but it might be worth a short conversation with a mover to be sure.
   

    -@abthree

I do not recommend anyone bring anything that is not essential, valuable, non-replaceable or has an intrinsic personal value. I did and it was a bloody nightmare to ship 20 odd tea chests, and you can get pretty much everything youm might need here in Brazil now.

Remember also you cannot ship anything with an engine (car, boat, lawnmower, etc) unless it is brand new (very high tax to pay) or more than 30 years old. This rule was in existence when I moved here, and I have not heard anything to the contrary so I assume it is still in force?

@abthree Hello, it would be great if you could share the details referred to.

12/17/23    @abthree Hello, it would be great if you could share the details referred to.
   

    -@Tony Jaques

Good morning.  I'll look back over my notes and post something here in the next day or two.

Meanwhile, here's something that can help you with your research right now.  Moving to Brazil is a complicated process with a lot of moving parts, and one false step can start cascading bureaucratic nightmares.  You want a mover that has specific experience with Brazil, not just general experience in moving people overseas.  They should have a Brazilian affiliate or partner that can prevent them from making fatal mistakes at the New Zealand end of your move, and pick up the Brazil end and bring it home for you. 

I don't know how the moving industry (my guess is that you call it "removals" there) is organized in New Zealand, but if it's anything like the United States, it started out with small, family-based companies that have formed networks over the years, including corresponding relationships with foreign companies.  The degree of control that the network exercises over the member companies can be different, but the ties should be tight enough that they can act as one company for an international move.  I moved with a company that is part of the Allied/North American network and that has close ties with Sirva, a large logistics company in Brazil; for a Brazilian process it was smooth and trouble-free. 

I doubt that there's enough moving traffic out of New Zealand to Brazil to generate a lot New Zealand-based expertise in this rather obscure topic, but some New Zealand movers probably have network connections with Sirva or another Brazilian company like them.  One of those is will be a mover that can probably do a good job for you, and keep your shipment moving to your door.

@abthree That is very, very interesting, but I have to believe it is also very expensive. My stuff is in a 5 x 5 Public Storage Container in R.I. and after throwing away half of it, the rest I planned on flying back with. I can take the Video Lighting equipment in a golf bag.  Curious to know how much this would cost.

Of course this is all hypothetical because the lawyers I hired in May of 2023 to process my Permanent Residency Visa by spouse and the ensuing ability to go to R.I. and come back are now entering 2024 with no progress in sight.

Thanx, though.

Roddie in Retirement

12/17/23 @roddiesho.  That sounds almost small enough to send in an air shipment, but yeah, any way will be expensive.  Once you have your CRNM, you might just want to try bringing it in piecemeal as excess baggage on successive trips.

   12/17/23 @abthree Hello, it would be great if you could share the details referred to.     

    -@Tony Jaques

As requested:

A new permanent resident of Brazil can move one ocean shipment and one sea shipment duty-free.  The shipment cannot leave the origin port before the issue date of the resident’s CRNM, and must arrive at the destination port in Brazil within six months of that date.  A shipment cannot be placed on a ship at the origin until the Customs Broker in Brazil confirms that the paperwork is completely in order; otherwise, the shipment may be impounded on arrival, and be expensive or even impossible to release, depending on whether the paperwork can be fixed.  This means that the shipment should be packed and in storage at the time the (future) resident leaves for Brazil. 

Brazil does not allow wooden crates on incoming shipments     AT ALL.  Movers familiar with Brazil have developed effective packing out of alternate materials.  No liquids can be in the shipment.  Lightbulbs must be removed from lamps.

My move took place in late 2017/early 2018.  I hired a home organizer to help me dispose of the belongings that I didn’t plan to bring, as well as accumulated clutter and documents.  Prior to my departure, I interviewed movers, and inspected the storage facility of the chosen mover to satisfy myself that my belongings would be safe there.  Per the mover’s instructions, I obtained an IRS Tax ID for the move.

Timeline:

Early October 2017– separate items that would go with me from items that would be shipped, pre- pack home electronics, other items for shipment for which I had original packaging.

October 26 – packing by movers.  Movers prepared official inventory as they packed.  They used terms that would be familiar at the Brazil end and easily translated into Portuguese.  They included serial numbers of all electronics.

November 1 – Arrive in Brazil

November 7 – Register with the Federal Police

December 5 – Pick up CIE, now CRNM.

At this point I could have started the actual move process, but we still didn’t know where we were going to live.  So for most people, the timeline should be two months shorter.  That was decided in early February 2018, so at that point, I finalized the required document package, which I had been gathering since arrival:

•    2 notarized copies of CPF (Brazilian Tax Payer ID Card) or protocol / application;

•    2 notarized copies of Brazilian ID Card/RNE (now CRNM) or its protocol with SINCRE;

•    3 signed copies of Power of attorney (Procuração Pessoa Física)  The signature on this document must be legalized at a Brazilian notary.  Form was provided by Brazilian movers;

•    2 signed copies (with legalized signature) of DSI (inventory of the move, prepared by the US movers while packing and translated into Portuguese by the Brazilian movers);

•    2 notarized copies of E-ticket to Brazil.  It must have the same origin and destination of the move;

•    1 simple copy of Boarding Pass to Brazil - It must have the same origin and destination of the move;

•    2 notarized copies of Passport - including cover and blank pages;

•    2 notarized copies of a proof of residence in Manaus;

The above documents required about US$200 in stamps from the cartório.

For passport copies, I found it useful to scan my entire passport, save it as a Word document, and print out copies for the cartório to authenticate whenever I needed it.

February 20 – Document package reviewed by Customs Broker.  There was one small problem:  the CEP (Brazilian Postal Code) was wrong on the electric bill that I was going to use as proof of address.  This is a longstanding problem with Amazonas Energia that they refuse to fix.  We substituted an Internet bill which had the correct code, and we were good to go.

February 21 – green light to load my shipment to Brazil.

March 1 – shipment left Chicago for the East Coast.

March 10 – shipment departed New York for Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

April 19 – shipment arrived Manaus; caught in an ongoing Work to Rule labor action by Customs workers

May 18 – Shipment delivered to us.

All, I did a container shipment from Virginia to Brasilia 2 years ago. Peter is right about not allowed to bring anything with motors. I think I was also told that drones were not allowed too). I agree with everything that abthree said, except about liquids. I was allowed to bring a large wine collection to Brazil, as well as liquids such as Frebreeze (which we can't find in Brazil yet). The moving contractor told me that I wouldn't have any problems with the wine for personal consumption, but he did have a guy who tried to ship cases of liquor to stock his bar in Brazil. (Was that an of you guys? LoL.) I don't remember if he told me the guy had to pay tariffs for it or if it got confiscated. The inspectors definitely look to see if you are trying to ship for commercial gain as opposed to your household goods.

We brought all our appliances from the US because we wanted 'American standard' appliances versus the 'European standard ' appliances common in Brazil. We also brought one of those tempurpedic adjustable beds, k-pods and machine, shower and sink fixtures, clothing, American foodstuff, decor, and lamps.  We did not ship TVs and furniture since they are good in Brazil. 

Unfortunately,  COVID hit while we were working the shipment so the cost jacked up considerably, but now that the logjam is gone I imagine the cost to less.

We used a family company out of Hyannis, Massachusetts who also have family in the company working the receiving side in Brazil. They are Brazilian-Americans, working primarily shipments from the USA to Brazil for years. They probably do a dozen moves a year. It was great that they worked the move 'door-to-door' Or in our case to a storage facility since we were incrementally bringing stuff to our place that was being extensively renovated. This as a great experience because they processed all the paperwork (they told us the documents needed which abthree identified above, they examined they to make sure we had them right, and they delivered them to the gov't). It was also good that they understood both American and Brazilian cultures, languages, and government processes.

They packed at our house,  put it in a 20ft shipping container, and took it to the dock. They arranged the ship and they met it when it docked in Brazil. Note, we filled an entire shipping container, but if you can't fill one, they will share it with goods from someone else and you would pay for a partial container. Since our place is in Brasilia, they arranged for a ship that docked in Victoria, so the land route was less. We had some COVID delays at the port, but our mover knew that a head of time and actually we factored that into our time-line. We had very little damage. (I was an army-brat and am retired military myself, so I have experienced many moves and I would say their packing was not bad.) But as we all know, moving packers are transitory, so every experience, even with the same company, is different. I do appreciate how they were with us every step of the way. And even a year and a half later when we filed for our damage claims, they Venmo'd it to us that day. I would be happy to recommend the moving company to you in private if you are interested since I don't think I am allowed to state their name in this public forum. Remember, though I fortunately had a good experience with them, does not mean you would too: personality clashes, worldwide epidemics, weather, strikes, packers' ability and attitude, etc. etc.

Boa sorte

12/17/23  @Eric Pau.  Good point.  I was thinking more cleaning products, re liquids, although I'm a little surprised that they let the Febreez through.  I would expect there to be different regulations to cover a personal wine cellar.  🍷

I moved a large art collection without a scratch, and the only damage I suffered was one bowl and one plate.  Couldn't have been happier.

@abthree This is very useful, thank you so much

    I heard once you establish residency you have a right to one shipping container to move your stuff. Any help with the rules on that? Are some things barred? I’d like to bring my stuff and gardening things, maybe agricultural drone and small machinery. Is there a time limit? Size? Thanks!
   

    -@rnbtg

You have a once in a lifetime exemption on duties to bring in your personal items, furniture, sporting goods. Small machinery, you would need to double check. 

@EricPau COuld you please provide the name of the shipping company you used and the approx cost for everything? And you didn't take furniture but did take lamps and plumbing fixtures? What did you find occupied most of the container and how many people were moving ? Thanks so much. Planning a move next year to SP state

I hope your move goes well. This is probably more than you wanted, but here we go..... To be honest with you, we did not shop around to a bunch of places, as we probably should have.  But we were very satisfied with Alegra Brasil.

Reach out to Max at:

Alegrabrasilmoving.com

Phones/Whatsapp:

(508) 790-1002

(508) 685-6773

Address:

192 Iyannough Rd

Hiannys - MA - 02601

Email:

abrmoving@gmail.com

To answer your other questions:

- Our cost during the pandemic logjam was $26K for a  full 40' container. You can get a half (20') container, or share a container.

- We did take some furniture: a big leather club chair, rugs, large mirrors, paintings, buffet table, and American-style appliances.

-What occupied most of our move: We had an inventory list of 265 items. And note that my Brazilian wife is an interior designer. When we first started collecting our things to send to Brazil, we had planned to build a 400 sq mt house on a 2000 sq mt lot. But in the end, we decided to move into a 100 sq mt apartment, so we had a lot more things than we needed. We probably put half of the stuff in our apartment. We gave a lot of stuff away to family (a big family), and we sold stuff for half the value to a consignment store. Our intention was not to try and take stuff to Brazil to make money, but it was nice to be able to get back some of our expense. Obviously, selling at half the value is not a profit-making venture... BTW: the consignment shop had a software to determine the value. They loved us, and hoped we had more than the 30+ boxes of American things we gave them (extra pots and pans, dishes, paintings, bathroom items, end tables, decorative items, etc.)

- We first put everything in a very large storage unit. I separated everything into categories: about 20% were kitchen items (pots/pans, dishes, glassware, stemware, small cooking appliances such as airfryer, toaster oven, coffee machine, rice cooker, etc). 20% were large appliances: dishwasher, garbage disposal, washer, dryer, frig, microwave, stove/oven, andoven hood ventilator. 10% were bathroom items: shower systems, bidet toilets, sink fixtures, etc. 20% were probably clothing (my wife's). And the last 30% were furniture and decor of the living room, wine collection (mine!), etc.

So I don't know if our situation is similar to yours, but Max is a good person. Boa sorte, Eric