Correios Beginning to Charge for Handling All International Parcels

The increase in international parcels arriving in Brazil and being handled by Correios, the national postal service, has led the entity to impose a new charge for all parcels received. The charge, known as “despacho postal”, was announced on 27^th August 2018 with immediate effect.

Correios used to charge this fee only when a parcel was taxed by Brazilian customs. However, according to Correios, the increased volume of imported parcels demanded more resources from the state-owned organization. In order to be able to continue providing its standard service, Correios saw no other alternative than to apply the charge to all international parcels they handle upon arrival in Brazil.

Correios emphasizes that this charge will not be mistaken by taxation or delivery fee. The “despacho postal” refers exclusively to the services provided by Correios when handling the parcels, such as x-ray inspection, tax collection on behalf of Receita Federal (when necessary), and providing information to the importer, among others.

It is worth noting that courier services such as DHL or Fedex already have similar charges in place. The amount charged by Correios is 15 BRL per parcel, which is, according to Correios, four times less than the average charged by other logistical operators for similar services.

The charge applies to all parcels that arrive in Brazil under the following modalities:

•    EMS (tracking code starting with “E”, includes parcels sent thorough ePacket, a popular option among Dropshippers.)

•    Colis Postaux (tracking code starting with “C”.)

•    Pequenas Encomendas Registradas (tracking code starting with “R”.)

•    Prime Exprèx (tracking code starting with “L”)

•    Pequenas Enconmendas Simples (currently, the most used modality for international parcels. It does not have a tracking code.)

 

Consumers waiting to receive their international parcels must track their objects here. Buyers can pay the “despacho postal” charge by boleto bancário or with a credit card. The delivery time starts once the payment is confirmed. More information regarding the charge and how to proceed can be found here.

Until there is more information regarding if and how merchants can pre-pay for the “despacho postal”, we strongly advise businesses selling cross-border to Brazil to inform their buyers accordingly about this charge. This is essential to minimize the risks of having consumers failing to collect their parcels and filing for a chargeback.