Brazil recently established tariff-rate quotas for imports of the following products to correct a lack of supply in the Brazilian market.

• Jute fibre. A maximum of 10,500 tonnes of jute fibre classified under NCM 5303.10.10 will benefit from duty-free treatment from 1 September 2009 through 28 February 2010. Out-of-quota merchandise will be subject to a regular most-favoured-nation duty rate of eight percent.
• Vinyl acetate. A maximum of 60,000 tonnes of vinyl acetate classified under NCM 2915.32.00 will benefit from a reduced duty rate of two percent from 10 September 2009 through 9 September 2010. Out-of-quota merchandise will be subject to an MFN duty rate of 12 percent.

In addition, Brazil has made certain changes to the list of products that are exempted from the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur) common external tariffs and instead benefit from a lower duty rate. These changes impact 114 items, mostly capital goods of Chapters 84, 85 and 90, whose duty rate has been lowered from around 12 to 14 percent to two percent through 31 December 2010.