The authorization of importers and exporters to perform acts in the Integrated Foreign Trade System (Sixcomex) is governed by Normative Instruction No. 1,603/2015. In the original wording of article 20, there was a provision regarding the validity of the authorization, which would be 18 (eighteen) months.

However, through the amendment introduced by Normative Instruction No. 1,893/2019, published by the Federal Revenue Service, the validity of the authorization, both for individuals and legal entities, to carry out acts in Siscomex, is now 6 (six) months, and this validity is renewed for each foreign trade operation carried out in the system.

Normative Instruction No. 1,893/2019 was published in the Official Gazette of the Union on May 16, 2019, and came into effect 30 days after its publication.

However, the Federal Revenue Service has begun applying the 6 (six) month period retroactively, that is, considering the 6 (six) months prior to the date of publication of the Normative Instruction. Therefore, if the company has not carried out any imports in the last 6 (six) months, its SISCOMEX authorization may be revoked immediately.

It turns out that such The procedure adopted by the Federal Revenue Service is inconsistent with the Brazilian legal system., which prohibits the requirement to fulfill obligations in relation to events that occurred before the entry into force of the normative act that established them, with the purpose of preventing the more onerous tax law from being applied to past situations.

Note that under the previous normative instruction, the importer was guaranteed the validity of the authorization for a period of 18 (eighteen) months, which is why, from the entry into force of the current instruction, only future events should be covered, as a way to promote legal certainty, given that the current normative provision reduces the validity of the authorization, being less beneficial to the importer.

Therefore, considering the Federal Revenue Service's retroactive application of the provisions of Normative Instruction No. 1,893/2019, it is recommended that companies verify their current status with the Siscomex Portal, and if they have been disabled, seek a professional specializing in this matter.

News commented on by Jacqueline Margutti, Lawyer, graduated in Law in 2011 by Mackenzie Presbyterian University.
Area of Expertise: Tax Law. Brazilian Bar Association (OAB): 320.845.