The Lista de Bens Sem Similar Nacional (List of Goods Without National Similarity), or LESSIN, was established by Senate Resolution No. 13 of April 25, 2012 (Resolução SF nº 13/2012).
With the aim of limiting the so-called “Port War,” Resolution No. 13 established a single ICMS tax rate of 4% on interstate transactions for imported products that have not undergone industrial processes and that, even if subjected to any process of transformation, improvement, assembly, packaging, repackaging, renewal, or reconditioning, result in goods or merchandise with an import content exceeding 40%.
Thus, Resolution SF nº 13/2012 excepted imported products without national similarity, for which the applied import tax rate would be “0%” (zero).
Who establishes the products that are part of LESSIN?
Resolution SF nº 13/2012 granted the responsibility of editing LESSIN to the Chamber of Foreign Trade (Câmara de Comércio Exterior or CAMEX).
In November 2012, CAMEX published Resolution No. 79, which established the criteria for determining the inclusion of products in the list.
On April 8, 2022, Resolution Gecex No. 326 updated LESSIN and consolidated the regulations on the subject.
What products are on LESSIN?
Only imported goods and merchandise that meet the following conditions can be part of LESSIN:
(i) are imported with an import tax rate of up to 2% (two percent);
(ii) do not have national similarity, which must be attested by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (SECEX); and
(iii) are classified under certain codes of the Common Nomenclature of MERCOSUR (NCM), as established in the Single Annex of Resolution Gecex No. 326/2022.
Products that benefit from BK and BIT ex-tariffs cannot be part of LESSIN.
The products that are part of LESSIN can be consulted at here.
What to do if a product mentioned in LESSIN has national similarity or is manufactured in Brazil?
It is possible to file a claim requesting the exclusion of the product from LESSIN so that the import tax rate is applied in accordance with the Common External Tariff (Tarifa Externa Comum or TEC).
