3/27/2020
The Foreign Trade Chamber (Camex), of the Ministry of Economy, increased the reduction of the Import Tax rate to 61 more medical hospital products. Among the products are chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which are being tested to treat infection with the new coronavirus.
On March 17, the government had already published Resolution 17/2020 to reset the import rate of 50 products. With Resolution 22/2020, this list was expanded to cover 61 more products, including items such as kits for coronavirus testing, pharmaceutical and medical equipment and devices, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and immunoglobulin, among other items.
The new list comprises 51 codes of the Common Mercosur Nomenclature (NCM). The full description of the products that benefited from the zero import tax rate can be found here.
According to the standard, the rates will be zeroed until September 30, 2020 and, if Camex is shown the relevance of other items, the list of products may be expanded again to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, other items that may not be directly related to Covid-19 may be added, but that may be impacted in some way.
L.O. Baptista Regulatory team is available for any assistance regarding this topic and will continue to monitor the legal and regulatory changes instituted on behalf of Covid-19.
