Freight companies

It has been my experience that before you even consider shipping things back home from Brazil you should seriously think about the grave concerns that one must think about when shipping household good from their home country to Brazil.

This is especially true with electronics, electrical appliances, and small appliances that are manufactured in Brazil. You could be exposing yourself to serious legal liability in doing so.

For example, all such items MUST by type approved by a regulatory body for use in your country of origin. In North America for example, that would be CSA, Underwriters Labs, etc. In Brazil all such items must be type approved for use in this country by INMETRO. And the process by which a private individual would obtain approval is exactly the same, and costs the same, as if it were the manufacturer of the product making the application.

The civil liability comes into play when one simply imports such an unapproved product and begins using it. Imagine having such an item develope a short circuit that is responsible for a fire; one that results in a total loss of not only all of your possessions, but also causes substantial damage to let's say the entire apartment building in which they live. That individual's insurance would almost certainly not cover the losses or third party liability, leaving them personally responsible for all of the losses incurred by others. This would certainly wipe them out financially.

This is not even beginning to consider the potential criminal charges that could result from such a fire that involved the loss of life. Just think about it!!!

Given that electronics, electrical appliances, gas appliances, household appliances and small appliances manufactured in this country are of notoriously poor quality you would be placing yourself at substantial risk by taking them back into your home country.

I would strongly recommend that you really examine your needs for such items and weigh that against the very real risks that this involves. You may find, especially with items that are now USED, that their value to you does not merit taking such risks.

I know that we all tend to get very caught up with the THINGS that we acquire during our lifetimes. Some of those THINGS may not necessarily be doing anything to really enhance our lives and could potentially put us into a very delicate situation.

Cheers,
James       Expat-blog Experts Team

Thanks for your respond James! We will not be taking any electronic devices purchased here, it's more books etc, a sewing machine that was bought in Europe, toys etc. do you know of any good freight companies that you could recommend? Thanks! M

I do not personally since I've been here in Brazil for so many years and brought everything with me as excess baggage on my flight. (something you might want to check into with your airline)

Perhaps one of our other members may have some more current information on the subject which will help you.

In the meantime you could check the internet for the sites below:

http://graneromoving.com/http://ginter.com.br/servicos/mudanca-i … Agp-8P8HAQ

Thanks a lot, James!