Tourists, Shoppers, and Smugglers: Brazilian Re-configurations of Circuits of Imported Goods

Fernando Rabossi

doi:10.31389/jied.135

Abstract

In many countries, imported products resold in stores, fairs, and digital platforms arrive in tourists’ suitcases and carry-on luggage. The categories of accompanied baggage and exception quota for travelers are central to understanding contemporary forms of mobility and commerce, providing the script through which many irregular practices take place. This article analyzes two ongoing processes at Brazilian land borders that represent efforts to regulate the flow of commercial mobilities by recalibrating the relationship between tourism and shopping: the creation of a specific micro-import regime for Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguacu on the border between Paraguay and Brazil and the authorization of free-shops in Brazilian border cities. In the first case, trying to regulate the activity that for years attracted thousands of buyers to the Paraguayan city. In the second case, internalizing in the Brazilian territory the exceptional spaces that attracted Brazilian buyers abroad or in free-shops at airports for decades.

Highlights

This article analyzes two ongoing processes at Brazilian land borders that represent efforts to regulate the flow of commercial mobilities by recalibrating the relationship between tourism and shopping: the creation of a specific micro-import regime for Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguaçu on the border between Paraguay and Brazil and the authorization of free-shops in Brazilian border cities
The passengers are tourists returning from Ciudad del Este with merchandise that does not exceed the value of US $ 300—their exemption quota—or, if it does, they are willing to pay the requisite import taxes
Many are merchants resupplying in Ciudad del Este, hoping to pass through the customs checkpoint in Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazilian territory, without being searched (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

This article analyzes two ongoing processes at Brazilian land borders that represent efforts to regulate the flow of commercial mobilities by recalibrating the relationship between tourism and shopping: the creation of a specific micro-import regime for Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguaçu on the border between Paraguay and Brazil and the authorization of free-shops in Brazilian border cities. I will describe and analyze two ongoing processes in Brazilian land borders that represent efforts to regulate the flux of illegal mobilities: the creation of a specific micro-importation regime for Ciudad del Este/Foz do Iguaçu on the border with Paraguay and the authorization of free-shops in Brazilian border cities.

Results

Conclusion