EN 
PT_BR 
It came into force throughout Brazil, this Monday (1st), a series of determinations promulgated by the Federal government, including the Gecex Resolution No. 541, which deals with the increase in import tax for solar panels.
With this, the rate is now 9.6%, on the grounds that the adoption of the measure will help stimulate the national production of photovoltaic modules.
To give the market time to adapt to changes, import-free quotas were established, in decreasing values until 2027 in:
- US$ 1.13 billion between January and June 2024;
- US$ 1.01 billion between July 2024 and June 2025;
- US$ 717 million between July 2025 and June 2026;
- US$ 403 million between July 2026 and June 2027.
“A hybrid mechanism was created, with 30% of the quotas being allocated to large importers”, explains Wladimir Janousek, Secretary of Industry and Commerce of the INEL (National Institute of Clean Energy) and a professional who has been following the entire process of developing the new resolution.
According to him, the regulation has specific rules both for companies that fall within 30% of the global quota and for others that fall within other 70%.
Among them, Janousek draws attention to the quota balances that do not accumulate for the next period. In other words, if anyone who purchases the benefit and does not consume it within the current period, the remainder of the quota will not be incorporated into the balance of the subsequent period.
The professional also assesses that the rate increase module import should not be seen by the market as a concern, since the price of solar panels, especially Chinese ones, is at its lowest price and with prospects of further drops throughout the year.
“Modules, mainly monofacial, are being sold on the market at a much lower price and we are already seeing some liquidation in China, because all manufacturers have high stocks and want to liquidate by mid-February, which is when the new year occurs. Chinese,” he commented.
According to him, in this first quota reservation alone, between January and June 2024, it is estimated that the volume of solar panels and tax exemptions will amount to between 7.5 GW and 8.7 GW, depending on the average price.
Rules for obtaining quotas
O Federal Government published a complementary standard which establishes the criteria for allocating the first global quotal for importing photovoltaic modules between January and June this year.
It was decided that the portion of 30% of the global quota for large companies will be US$ 339.16 million and that this amount will be directed to entities whose imported volume represented an amount equal to or greater than 2% of total Brazilian imports verified in the period from December 2022 to November 2023.
The list of companies covered by the respective portion of the import quota will be made available on the website Siscomex and the Application for an import license must be made by April 30, 2024.
The resolution also determines that the balances of quotas not requested within the deadline, as well as the balances arising from cancellations, expiries and replacements of import licenses, will be redistributed, as of May 2, 2024, to the portion referred to as 70% of the global quota.
US$ 791.39 million will be allocated to other companies in order of registration of import license applications in Siscomex.
Each company will initially be granted the maximum quantity, and each importer may obtain more than one import license, as long as the sum of the quantities informed is less than or equal to the fixed limit.
Additional information
It was also defined that the importer must declare, in the “Additional Information” field of the import license, that, if requested, he undertakes to present to the Decex (Department of Foreign Trade Operations), within 30 days from the requirement formulated in Siscomex, the Bill of Lading and the Commercial Invoice, which supports the import.
In the case of imports on behalf of third parties, the name of the purchaser or company covered must be mentioned, with their respective CNPJ for association.
“Decex, upon requirement formulated in Siscomex, may request the presentation of documentation that proves the effective shipment of the goods abroad as a requirement for granting the application for an import license, which will indicate the availability of balance to meet the request and will provisionally allocate the quota requested for the requesting company”, highlights the document.
Furthermore, the effective granting of the quota will be subject to the presentation, by the company, of the documentation requested in the Siscomex electronic document attachment module, with the appropriate linking of the dossier to the import license within 30 days from the date of the requirement formulated in the Siscomex, subject to the quota validity period.
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