Made in Brazil

Could you post the source link please, I'd be interested in reading it.

Hello Dedub,

I saw this reported on the Globo Network's website the other day. Just another clear demonstration that the Brazilian government thinks only about tax revenues and nothing else. Rather than address the problem of the highly overpriced Brazilian made phones, computer equipment, televisions, etc,. and the high rate of tax (6 separate taxes) imposed on them; they simply decide to block equipment that is being imported from abroad much more cheaply and thus within the financial reach of most Brazilians.

This government doesn't give a rats ass about the fact that people coming from all over the world will not be able to use cellular their telephones with a Brazilian operator's chip, in fact I think the move has probably been suggested by the Brazilian operators in order to force those coming here to incur the much higher international roaming charges that will result from not being able to simply pop a SIM card purchased here into the device.

This is typical Brazilian logic, sad to say. We have a problem, we come up with a poorly thought out solution, so who cares if it only creates more problems we've got the tax revenues!!!

DISGUSTING

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

That is so terrible....so frustrating. I bought my unlocked iphone just for that reason, so I could use it when I move back to Brasil.

here is a link that I read tecnoblog.net/153260/anatel-celular-exterior-nao-homologado-funciona-brasil-siga/

That is very sad. I already have 2 nice cellphones and still working well. I dont need a new one
Is there any way to use the number without buying new cellphone? Maybe we can register a new number or what should I do?

Nindy Jul's wrote:

..... Is there any way to use the number without buying new cellphone? Maybe we can register a new number or what should I do?

Maybe use Skype on regular Internet access from where you are staying? 

I am interested too to see a reference link. It would be a first worldwide.
Meantime, familly iphone and android are still working well in Fortaleza.

I read on another article that phones that Anatel is referring to are "celulares piratas"

"A Anatel fará de tudo para bloquear somente aqueles aparelhos de baixa qualidade, sem homologação nenhuma, comprados no mercado paralelo. Este controle será feito pelo IMEI, que é o identificador único de cada aparelho. Mas tanto a agência quanto a Sinditelebrasil dizem que a intenção não é bloquear aparelhos originais comprados em outro país. Ou seja, um iPhone verdadeiro, mesmo se comprado na Europa ou Estados Unidos, deverá continuar funcionando por aqui."

The above statement makes a lot more sense.

Actually Anatel would like to block only "pirate" phones. Meaning all copy of famous brands like the xing-ling from Nckia, Vaic. Generally all chinese.
Good explanation there: Block phone

Having read the article linked to, I can't see how they're going to be able to do this... they're either going to have to block ALL foreign equipment based on IMEI that isn't registered with Anatel or block none. How in the world could the possibly determine just by IMEI exactly what the country of origin is and just block Chinese knock-offs? Somebody's way off the mark here, or somebody's just plain flat out lying! Which is not too unusual for Brazilian governmental bodies.

Actually you can. IMEI codes follow international codification and are identifying brand, model and telco phone provider. You can find IMEI database on internet giving you this information. Quite easy to trace where is your phone from: which country and which telco.
Certainly, established phone manufacturers who would benefit the most of blocking chinese copy manufacturers. But I do not understand what would be the benefit for Brazil other than pissing off all foreigners visiting Brazil.
Seriously they really can't do that for all foreigner phone, Brazil would look like the most backward country in the world...I do not think China or Iran do that.

So what you're saying is that they can block ALL cellular phones manufactured in China by a certain manufacturer?

Even so this is the typical Brazilian government knee-jerk reaction to problems that they could easily solved if they weren't so bent on milking every last centavo of tax revenue out of the Brazilian population that they possibly can.

They can't come anywhere near competing with foreign car manufacturers in terms of quality, productivity or price so they jack up the IPI on foreign made cars. People still buy them because of their better quality.

They can't stop the smuggling of massive amounts of cigarettes from Paraguay because, of course, they wouldn't dream of reducing the taxes on national brands and legally imported tobacco products. Their failure to reduce taxes only makes smuggling more lucrative and causes it to grow exponentially.

National brand electronics such as TVs, Stereo Sound Systems, computers, etc., apart from their inferior quality and high prices are protected by astronomical taxes imposed on imported products thus forcing the average Brazilian citizen to buy "Made In Brazil" whether they like it or not.

Gough, gough, gough and when the people have almost been bled dry, gough them some more!!! Wonderful attitude.

However, it gives an incentive to Brazilian manufacturers of any kind of product to maintain their mediocre quality and protects them from any need to be competitive in any way. When they can no longer tax the sh_t out of a foreign product then they simply ban it.... sort of gives a whole new meaning to the famous term "Jeitinho Brasileiro". Wonder if anybody there in Brasília has thought about the concept of making a better mousetrap, making it of better quality and making it cheaper than all the other mousetraps out there in order to CAPTURE the market, rather than simply dominate it with taxation?????

I think this would fit nicely into your definition of "the most backward country in the world".

wjwoodward wrote:

they're either going to have to block ALL foreign equipment based on IMEI that isn't registered with Anatel or block none. How in the world could the possibly determine just by IMEI exactly what the country of origin is and just block Chinese knock-offs? Somebody's way off the mark here, or somebody's just plain flat out lying! Which is not too unusual for Brazilian governmental bodies.

That's about the gest of it. Phone companies and Samsung/apple etc will provide anatel with all IMEI numbers of regularly imported cellphones. Anatel will then provide a whitelist. As soon as a phone recieves a new chip, the whitelist will be checked and the phone is either "habilitado" or blocked.

Unless Apple, Samsung, LG, Sony etc. Provide a list of all their IMEI's this will block your new iPhone bought in the US and over which you obviously payed 50% tax as any good citizen, when arrivin in Brazil.

I think you're right on the money Sven. I also think this whole issue is just going to be the icing on the cake after the international image of this country implodes during the World Cup. The jokes that are circulating around the country on social networks is that it's going to be necessary to make cellular phone calls from within the nations prisons because THEY never seem to be without a signal.

Looks like the drug lords are bent on taking back Rio at all costs and now even FIFA is criticizing the country in its official magazine, saying that "Everything in Brazil is left until the last minute, even stadiums!"

I shudder to think what the International Olympics Committee makes of this whole fiasco!

Cheers,
James

Another great reason not to live or visit Brazil.

usmc_mv wrote:

Another great reason not to live or visit Brazil.

Or endorse, support.

John C. wrote:

Nindy Jul's wrote:

..... Is there any way to use the number without buying new cellphone? Maybe we can register a new number or what should I do?

Maybe use Skype on regular Internet access from where you are staying? 

I dont think that will be good to have a contact with my friends, and students there
Not everyone will be online on skype 24/7 right?

Nindy Jul's wrote:

That is very sad. I already have 2 nice cellphones and still working well. I dont need a new one
Is there any way to use the number without buying new cellphone? Maybe we can register a new number or what should I do?

No there is no way. The block will be based on the EMEI number which is unique to each and every piece of equipment, essentially the "digital fingerprint" of that specific phone. If it does not appear on the Anatel approved list here in Brazil it simply will not function with a Brazilian SIM card inserted. The only option would be to use a SIM card from some other country and incur the very much higher international roaming charges made by the Brazilian operators.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Im a Brazilian that lives here and Ireland,  I bought my phone in Ireland and im using here with no problem, and I've loas argentinias friend tat comes here and using there phone. I think its only pirates phone.

Fagner,

The problem is that the proposed system will block all phones by EMEI numbers that aren't on their approved list. That means that they are going to have to create that list. To do that ALL manufacturers would have to supply the range of all EMEI numbers for their phones. When have you ever known the Brazillan government and government agencies to do anything without getting it all wrong?

This is going to obviously be a nightmare and many people will have phones that they have legally purchased abroad that simply won't work with a Braziian SIM card. If on the other hand the government simply reduced the taxes on phones made here they would cost much less and people wouldn't need to buy cheap knock-offs, don't you think?

Anyway, there is absolutely no doubt this proposal is going to be a fiasco and will inconvenience many people. Just wait and see.

Seriously, these would totally unapplicable. Imagine the chaos. I believe this is just "noise"  to put pressure on chinese phone copy manufacturers, grey importers or even possible standard manafucturers.
Brazilians have the right to buy a phone when travelling abroad, they just need to declare it when above  US$500. Phones are not on the list of products you cannot bring back in Brazil.

Can someone send me a source for this?

And I agree with the post. I know friends (including myself) that bring phones into Brazil all the time and make a nice profit just as long as the RF doesn't stop us in the airport. I think if this is enforced it will cause mass chaos.

THAT SAID I WANT TO REMIND EVERYONE that get a Brazilian SIM card in Brazil requires a CPF. It is probably one of the hardest countries for a non-citizen or resident to obtain a SIM card.

US travelers should use T-Mobile as roaming is now free with them in over 200 countries and calls are dirt cheap.