Receiving an international package in Brazil is highly problematic

Receiving an international package in Brazil is highly problematic and this does not befit the 7th largest economy in the world. The fault appears to lie, not with the postal service per se but with the customs. Taking delivery of your international orders in Brazil is a herculean task especially if it does not fall in the category of those exempted from custom duties (e.g. orders for educational institutions). Apart from generating income for the Government, I do think they are doing well at all and the Government should look into this. Brazil is a tourist destination with a large number of foreigners at all times of the year. Some are there temporarily while others are there for longer periods. These foreigners as well as Brazilians will engage in international transactions of one kind or the other. 

It is reasonable that a country should put measures in place to safeguard its domestic market but attempts at curtailing capital flight and curbing uncontrolled patronage of international merchants should not be at the expense of quality service or result in draconian taxes for residents. As it stands, there is little or no consideration for the interest of customers by the Brazilian customs. Packages take eternity to arrive and cut-throat custom duties are arbitrarily imposed on packages.

I have two not so palatable experiences with the customs in this regard. I made two orders for some items from the US. There was no duty on the first order because it was just about $25. The item arrived Brazil in about a week. I had to wait for about 3 more months before I took delivery of the package.

The second order had a value of about $80. They were materials that were not available in Brazil. The order again arrived Brazil in about a week. I took delivery of it about 2 months after placing the order. A levy of R$ 220 (~ $85) was slammed on me with conspicuous message on the package regarding payment. The said package was a USPS express priority mail with the inscription "rush to addressee" on the package. It seemed to me that the Customs was more interested in income generation than service delivery.

Brazil is a great country but this is an example of some areas in need of attention in public interest. Packages spend months in custody of Brazilian customs after arriving in the country in about a week from the originating countries. Thereafter, arbitrary levies are imposed. If levies are imposed and packages are delivered in good time, that would have made the fees a bit tolerable.