Events like the International Supply Chain Forum are always good for you to find new ideas for your business. This year, among several interesting sessions, one caught my attention due to the advantages it can bring to importing companies. It featured Uruguay as the main character, in its quest to become the logistics and services center of South America.
Uruguay's logic is simple: to attract companies through the country's agility in customs clearance, the quality of services provided, customs and tax exemptions and other financial advantages. To this end, companies must use the free trade zone installed there which, unlike Brazil, have much more logistical and service functions than industrial ones and are directly linked to the country's free ports and airports.
Any company can use one of the 12 Uruguayan free zones to store and distribute your production in South America, provided you consign your products to a free zone user or become a free zone user. The first case is simpler and can be a good way to test the so-called Uruguayan efficiency. The second option guarantees, in addition to efficiency, all tax and financial benefits that only a free zone user is entitled to. All this with the advantages guaranteed by free access between Mercosur countries.
Celeste Customs informs that 93% of cargo entering the country is released in a maximum of 8 hours. With Uruguay being about 3 or 4 days by truck from São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, this can be a good option for companies that suffer from the traditional bureaucracy of Brazilian customs.
Video 1 – Promotional video of the Uruguayan free zone
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5tgN1uSTrU
Some fiscal and financial benefits of a Uruguayan free zone:
- Exemption from customs fees and import taxes for goods, services and raw materials sent to the free zone;
- Exemption from income and estate tax;
- Free movement of currencies;
- Bank account maintenance in foreign currencies;
- Freedom of exchange operation;
- Salaries paid in foreign currencies.
References:
<http://zonasfrancas.mef.gub.uy/>
Alexandre Lobo
https://ilos.com.brGraduated in Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and in Social Communication from Faculdades Integradas Hélio Alonso (FACHA). Expertise in several projects with emphasis on market analysis for companies such as Unilever, Intertank, Invepar, Aqces, Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank.
