Brazil RADAR: Siscomex habilitação for importers (Expressa, Limitada, Ilimitada)

Who needs habilitação

Habilitação is the Receita Federal's authorisation for a person or company to act in foreign trade through Siscomex. It applies to exporters and importers as well as customs brokers and their assistants, depositaries and cargo agents. The current rule is Instrução Normativa RFB 1.984/2020, read with Portaria Coana 72/2020; RADAR is the name of the Receita's service for checking a company's status.

For an exporter selling to Brazil, the point is the buyer's modality: if the Brazilian importer is not enabled, or its limit is too low for the order, it cannot register the import declaration. In May 2026 Siscomex reported importers unable to register DUIMP declarations because their habilitação modality was missing.

Expressa, Limitada or Ilimitada

• Expressa: listed companies (sociedade anônima de capital aberto) and their wholly owned subsidiaries, public companies and mixed-capital companies; no operating limits
• Limitada up to US$ 50,000: imports of up to US$ 50,000 in each consecutive six-month period, when estimated financial capacity is at or below that amount
• Limitada up to US$ 150,000: imports of up to US$ 150,000 in each consecutive six-month period, when estimated financial capacity is above US$ 50,000 and at or below US$ 150,000
• Ilimitada: imports above US$ 150,000 per six months, when estimated financial capacity is above US$ 150,000
• Financial capacity is estimated from the sum of tax payments in the current year and the four previous calendar years, and the Receita can review it at any time
• Imports count against the limit at their customs value

How to apply

As a rule, habilitação is requested in Sistema Habilita in the Portal Único Siscomex (Habilitar Empresa > Cadastro de Intervenientes > Habilitação > Requerer Habilitação). The company must have joined the Electronic Tax Domicile (DTE), have an active CNPJ, have the partners and managers listed in its CNPJ in regular status, and have the operational, economic and financial capacity for foreign trade.

When the request cannot be handled automatically, it goes through a digital process with supporting documents. The service is free, and the estimated time is up to 10 calendar days. A company that needs a higher limit asks for a review of its estimate (revisão de estimativa), automatically in Sistema Habilita or by digital process.

Updates in 2025 and 2026

• 19 November 2025: IN RFB 1.984/2020 was amended, and Siscomex asked importers and exporters to check by 15 January 2026 that they fully meet the admission requirements of its article 21, such as DTE adhesion and the status of the CNPJ and of the partners' CPFs, or be disabled until they regularise
• May 2026: Siscomex reported importers unable to register DUIMP declarations because their habilitação modality was missing, and pointed them to the review of estimate under articles 29 and 30 of IN RFB 1.984/2020