How to Export to Brazil - Sprint Lazio

V. GENERAL ADVICE TO EXPORTERS
Brazil – Ministry of External Relations
Dealing with Brazilian clients is not a complicated task. While meetings are formal
business events; in Brazil, they tend to happen in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere.
However, the country’s business and cultural customs must be respected, so as to
avoid certain behaviors that may cause surprise or even embarrassment.
V.1. Business and cultural customs
Business meetings must be arranged in advance, so that clients can work them into
their schedules. In Brazil, business meetings are normally held in offices. A client will
hardly ever schedule a meeting in a hotel or at their residence, as sometimes happens
in other countries.
Upon arriving in Brazil, reconfirming the date or time of a meeting is not usually
required. In a Brazilian company, a secretary will normally keep track of appointments
and will inform all participants about possible changes.
Punctuality is an issue, as the visitor needs to take into account the existing difficult
traffic conditions in the large Brazilian cities.
Brazilian importers will appreciate receiving all the technical and commercial information
on the product and its price, including the customs classification, as this data will
enable them to design an import spreadsheet containing items such as taxes, fees,
storage and port expenses, so as to quickly arrive at a final decision on the purchase.
Therefore, it will be advantageous to the exporter if they have all the product information
readily available.
However, clients should not be pressured in the hope of achieving a prompt decision,
as parallel routine consultations on customs procedures may delay the decisionmaking
process. What may happen in a meeting is that the exporter will be requested
to send the Pro Forma Invoice. Therefore, exporters must not forget to have the
company’s letterhead stationery on them.
It is important to note that once the deal is formalized, the price and the form of
payment must not be changed.
The schedule for shipment in the country of origin is another essential piece of
information because, depending on the means of transportation, the duration of the
journey is an important factor in the client’s plans to sell the product in the internal
market.
Extreme care must be taken in relation to the quantities offered. When dealing with
products for human consumption, for instance, the orders can be large, given the
size of the Brazilian consumer market. Thus, it is important to make clear to the client
if the order can be met on time and in the requested amount.
How to export to Brazil 91