Customs Transit in Brazil: When to Move Cargo Inland

Brazil’s Declaração de Trânsito Aduaneiro (DTA) solves a concrete logistics problem: the cargo has arrived at the port, but the importer wants to clear customs somewhere else. It might be an inland bonded warehouse near Campinas, a facility in Greater São Paulo, or a logistics center close to the factory. While the container sits at the port terminal, storage charges climb in progressive tiers and the carrier’s demurrage clock keeps running. The DTA lets the container leave the port before customs clearance, with import duties suspended until the cargo reaches its destination facility. For the operations manager at a freight forwarder, the everyday question is when that transfer actually pays off and what it demands from the team.

The DTA suspends duties and shifts clearance to an inland facility

Customs transit in Brazil is a special regime governed by IN SRF 248/2002. It authorizes the transport of imported goods from a bonded facility in the primary zone (the port or airport) to a bonded facility in the secondary zone (an inland dry port, EADI, or CLIA). During the journey, federal import duties (II, IPI, PIS/COFINS on imports) are suspended. Payment happens when the goods are nationalized at the destination facility, and Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) oversees the entire process, from the container seal at origin to the inspection on arrival.

The standard entry DTA is the most common variant for imports arriving through Santos, Paranaguá, or Itajaí bound for inland facilities in São Paulo, Paraná, or Santa Catarina. The customs broker files the declaration in Siscomex, and the Receita Federal reviews and authorizes the transit. Once authorized, the container leaves the terminal with a verified seal under the responsibility of a licensed carrier, travels to the destination facility, where the seal is checked on arrival, and customs clearance begins.

Importers located far from the port use this regime to cut dwell time at the terminal and handle clearance closer to the factory or distribution center. For the freight forwarder, the DTA adds a step to the process, but it can reduce the storage, demurrage, and terminal handling charges the importer pays at the port.

Port dwell costs are what push cargo inland

Storage at the port terminal is charged in progressive tiers based on the cargo’s CIF value. As we detailed in an earlier post, the rate climbs with each period of dwell, and alongside it run the carrier’s demurrage and, eventually, detention. Each additional day at the port costs more than the one before.

At an inland dry port or bonded logistics center, storage is priced differently. Most secondary-zone facilities charge per container or per weight, without the CIF-indexed formula that port terminals apply. Available space tends to be larger and congestion lower. For a high-CIF-value shipment that might take ten to fifteen days to clear at Santos, the gap between progressive port storage and a flat daily rate at the inland facility can cover the trucking cost to the interior and still come out cheaper overall.

The calculation is straightforward: estimated port storage multiplied by expected dwell days, compared against trucking from port to destination facility plus inland storage plus DTA fees. When customs screening points to a yellow or red channel and expected dwell time climbs, the math favors the DTA. With a green channel and clearance in two or three days, moving the cargo out of the port adds cost and time for no gain. The cargo arrival notice is the starting point for this calculation, because it marks the date from which storage charges begin to accrue.

The DTA operation requires coordination between broker, carrier, and facility

The DTA registration in Siscomex is handled by the customs broker. After the cargo arrives at the terminal and the cargo arrival notice is recorded, the broker has a window to request the transit. The Receita Federal reviews the documentation and, when everything checks out, authorizes departure. At high-volume terminals like Santos, document review for transit typically clears within one business day when the paperwork is complete.

The carrier making the run between the port and the destination facility must be authorized by the Receita Federal to operate under customs transit. Cargo insurance must be endorsed before the container leaves the terminal, and the container seal must be intact on arrival. If any of these requirements fails, the cargo stays at the port until the issue is resolved, and dwell charges keep accruing.

In practice, the errors that most often hold up a DTA are insurance not endorsed before departure, a seal discrepancy between the system record and what is physically on the container, and a carrier whose authorization has expired or is pending renewal. All are preventable with pre-departure checks, and all cost days of storage when they slip through.

In April 2026, the Guarulhos customs authority published an order creating the Fluxo Expresso no Trânsito Aduaneiro (FETA), which fast-tracks road-based DTA operations originating at São Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport and bound for secondary-zone facilities, provided both the carrier and the destination facility hold Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certification. For forwarders running recurring air cargo volumes who already have the certification, FETA shortens the transit clearance timeline.

How Tier2 Cargo tracks customs transit within the shipment

The import process in Tier2 Cargo records every stage from quote to settlement. When a shipment involves a DTA, the operator logs the transit as a step within the same process, with departure and arrival dates, origin facility, and destination facility. Operational milestones track progress, and the process margin reflects trucking and inland storage costs alongside every other shipment expense. The operations manager sees, in a single process, whether the DTA reduced or increased the total cost compared to what was quoted.

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