From a distance, importing looks like a closed club. You need accreditation on Radar Siscomex, knowledge of tax classification, foreign exchange, Incoterms and customs clearance, plus capital that stays locked in the operation for months. For a retailer or a company that simply wants to bring in a good product from China and sell it, building all that from scratch is expensive, slow and risky. That is where a lot of good opportunities die in the drawer.
What almost nobody mentions is that Brazilian law created precisely the way out of this. You can import using the structure of a company that already has all of it in place, without giving up ownership of the goods or of the brand. The two modalities that make this possible are import on behalf of a third party (importação por conta e ordem) and import to order (importação por encomenda), both regulated and recognised by the Receita Federal, the Brazilian federal tax authority.
What import on behalf of a third party is
In import on behalf of a third party, an import company that is already accredited and fully equipped carries out the import in its own name, but on behalf of and by order of another company, known as the acquirer (adquirente). The acquirer is the one who actually wants the goods and provides the funds; the import company is the service provider that runs the paperwork for them.
In practice it works like this: you (the acquirer) choose the product and the supplier and pay for the operation; the import company uses its own Radar licence, handles the currency exchange, the customs process and the clearance, and at the end delivers the goods with a nota fiscal, the Brazilian tax invoice, issued by them to you. Both companies are identified on the import declaration, as the tax authority requires. You genuinely import, with legal backing, without having built the foreign trade apparatus on your own.
The central idea: the goods are yours, the business is yours, the brand is yours. What you outsource is the operation of importing, meaning the technical and bureaucratic part that requires accreditation, experience and structure. It is like hiring an accountant for the bookkeeping instead of becoming an accountant.
The three ways of importing in Brazil
To place the options side by side: the Receita Federal recognises importing in your own name (direct) and two ways of importing through a third party, each with a different logic:
| Modality | Who operates | Whose money it is | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct (own name) | Your own company, with its own Radar licence and structure. | Yours | Those who already have a foreign trade department and recurring volume. |
| On behalf of a third party | An import company, in its own name, by your order. | Yours (the acquirer) | Those who want to import with their own funds but without building the structure. |
| To order | An import company, with its own funds, to resell to you. | The import company’s | Those who prefer to buy already cleared into Brazil, as a predetermined ordering party. |
The last two solve the same underlying problem: they let a company without a full structure import through an accredited partner. For the beginner or mid-sized importer buying from China, the choice almost always comes down to these two.
On behalf of a third party or to order: the difference that changes everything
The difference between the two lies in whose money it is and at what moment the goods become yours. It sounds like a technical detail, but it determines the cash flow and the role of each party:
- On behalf of a third party: the funds are yours, the acquirer’s. The import company runs the import with your money and charges for the service. The goods are yours from origin; the import company is never the owner, only the operator.
- To order: the import company uses its own funds to import and then resells to you, the ordering party. It owns the goods until it sells them to you already cleared into Brazil. You buy them ready, without fronting the currency exchange on the international purchase.
On behalf of a third party, you keep financial control and pay for a service; to order, you trade that control for the convenience of buying goods already cleared, usually fronting less capital during the international stage. Which is better depends on your cash position, your appetite for risk and your relationship with the partner. BCVN helps define the right modality for your case.
Who it makes sense for
Importing through a partner is not a "plan B" for those who cannot import directly. For most Brazilian importers it is the smarter decision. It makes particular sense for:
Testing importing and the product in the market without building a foreign trade department before knowing whether it will sell.
Focusing on selling and on the brand, outsourcing the technical side of currency exchange, customs process and clearance to whoever does it every day.
Sporadic volume does not justify keeping a team, an accreditation and idle capital in an import structure of your own.
Companies that need a specific piece of equipment or input from China, but whose business is not importing.
In all these cases the gain is the same: you enter importing with a partner’s experience behind you, you reduce the operational risk and you start selling sooner, without the months and the cost of building your own structure. If you are still at step one, it is worth also reading the guide on how to import from China.
Transparency and choosing the partner: what cannot be missing
The modality is safe, but it demands one non-negotiable precaution: transparency. The Receita Federal requires the real acquirer or ordering party to be identified in the operation. Using an import company to hide who the true buyer is amounts to what Brazilian law calls fraudulent interposition, and it is illegal. A serious partner declares the parties correctly, pays the taxes due and keeps the operation clean.
Warning sign: if somebody offers to "import in my name so you do not appear" or promises to make taxes disappear down obscure routes, walk away. That is not importing on behalf of a third party, it is fraud, and when the tax authority audits, the damage lands on everyone involved.
Choosing the partner well is therefore the most important decision. Beyond accreditation and tax transparency, what sets a good partner apart is looking after the whole operation, not just the paperwork: finding and validating the supplier, negotiating, inspecting the product before shipment and sorting out compliance. It is the difference between a customs broker who only signs the forms and a partner who protects your business end to end. On this, see why importers lose money in China and quality inspection before shipment.
How BCVN structures your import
BCVN structures your import end to end, so that you need nothing in place. We help define the right modality (on behalf of a third party or to order), we find and validate the supplier in China, we negotiate price, customisation and minimum order, we handle the inspection before shipment and we run the operation with the structure and accreditation required, from the currency exchange to customs clearance, with the correct taxes and the tax invoice in order.
In practice, you decide what you want to sell and we make China happen. That applies both to bringing in a container of products to resell and to creating your own brand from a product spotted at a fair. That is 18 years operating this bridge between Brazil and China, turning companies with no import structure into importers in their own right, safely and without the paperwork on this side.
Frequently asked questions about importing on behalf of a third party
What is import on behalf of a third party?
It is the modality in which an import company that is already accredited and equipped carries out the import in its own name, but on behalf of and by order of another company, called the acquirer, which is the one that actually wants the goods and provides the funds. In practice, the acquirer hires the import company to run the import for them: the import company handles the customs process, and the acquirer receives the goods with a tax invoice issued by the import company. Both companies are identified on the import declaration, as the Receita Federal requires.
What is the difference between import on behalf of a third party and import to order?
The difference lies in whose money it is. In import on behalf of a third party, the funds belong to the acquirer, and the import company provides the service of running the import in their name. In import to order, the import company uses its own funds to import and then resells to the ordering party, a predetermined buyer. In both, a company without its own structure manages to import; what changes is who finances the operation and the moment the goods become yours.
Do I need a Radar Siscomex licence to import on behalf of a third party?
The one operating the import is the import company, which must be accredited on Radar Siscomex and have the foreign trade structure. The acquirer or ordering party also needs accreditation, but uses the import company structure, experience and operation, without having to build an import department from scratch on their own. That is precisely why the modality exists: it lets companies without a full structure import through an accredited partner.
Is importing on behalf of a third party legal and safe?
Yes, as long as it is done transparently. Both modalities are regulated by the Receita Federal (Normative Instruction RFB no. 1.861/2018 and its updates), which requires the real acquirer or ordering party to be declared in the operation. What is illegal is using an import company to hide who the true buyer is, a practice known as fraudulent interposition. Working with a serious partner, who declares the parties correctly and pays the taxes, is what makes the operation safe.
When is importing on behalf of a third party better than importing directly?
It is worth it when you do not have your own foreign trade structure, when you are starting out and want to test importing without building a department, or when you prefer to outsource the paperwork and the operational risk in order to focus on selling. It is also useful for those who import infrequently, where keeping a full team and accreditation is not justified. Those importing in large, recurring volumes may in time consider importing directly; for most Brazilian importers buying from China, starting with a partner is the safest route.