Bamboo Shipments Stuck in Brazil: 8 Causes + Prevention Checklist

Most Brazilian customs detentions trace to eight preventable causes. Here is the pre-booking checklist we run for every bamboo shipment.

Most Brazilian customs detentions trace to eight preventable causes. Here is the pre-booking checklist we run for every bamboo shipment.

Bamboo tableware, a woven basket and a bamboo fibre towel do not sit in the same heading. Getting the NCM wrong changes the duty base, the licence requirements and, in Brazil, can cost up to 50% of the tax due in penalties.

Five taxes compound on a bamboo tableware shipment into Brazil, and the NCM code decides the first one. A layer-by-layer breakdown with sourced rates, the two figures the sources disagree on, and how to build a landed cost you can defend.

Bamboo arrives at customs classified as tableware, basketwork or furniture — and the code decides your duty, your licence and your paperwork. Here is how the classification works, and the three mistakes that send a container to the red channel.