The Brazilian Federal Police has adopted a stricter and more structured approach to enforcing immigration requirements for Chinese crew members on foreign-flagged vessels calling at Santos and other Brazilian ports.
As explained, this enforcement approach is already being applied in practice and reflects formal internal guidance issued at the federal level, based on Brazil’s current interpretation of the Brazil–China Maritime Transport Agreement.
Until recently, local immigration units were issuing fines even for vessels flying flags of Chinese territories, without fully considering the “One China” principle. Following a revised institutional interpretation and coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this practice has been discontinued.
The Federal Police no longer issues fines when Chinese crew members serve on vessels flying the flag of recognised Chinese territories. At the same time and critically for owners and operators, enforcement has been significantly tightened in relation to Chinese crew members serving on vessels flying non-Chinese flags.
- Ownership or chartering by a Chinese company does not exempt a vessel from immigration penalties in Brazil.
- If a vessel flies a third-country flag and a Chinese crew member’s documentation does not clearly meet the scope of the Brazil–China Maritime Transport Agreement, fines are now systematically applied.
- This enforcement approach results from:
- Internal consultations within the Federal Police
- Formal exchanges with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Diplomatic dialogue with Chinese authorities
- The Chinese Embassy in Brazil is aware of the situation, and discussions are ongoing regarding a potential future renegotiation of the agreement to cover Chinese seafarers regardless of vessel flag.
- Until any renegotiation occurs, the current interpretation remains in force nationwide.
- Exemption from immigration penalties applies only to Chinese crew members from territories expressly covered by the Brazil–China Maritime Transport Agreement:
- Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Tibet
- Seafarer documentation issued by the competent authorities of these territories is generally accepted for immigration purposes.
- The special exemption does not automatically extend to vessels flying third-country flags solely because they are owned or chartered by Chinese companies.
The same enforcement approach applies to crew members of other nationalities.
If a crew member’s country of nationality is not a signatory to ILO Convention 185 and therefore does not issue a Seafarers’ Identity Document, or if a valid Brazilian consular visa is required but not presented, the situation may be classified as an administrative immigration infraction.
In such cases, fines are imposed on the vessel owner and are channelled through the local port agent, who cannot waive or reduce the penalty. From an operational and loss-prevention perspective, attention should be paid to the Federal Police’s recidivism tracking system: repeated infractions attributed to the same owner within a twelve-month period result in automatic doubling of fines.
Settlement of the penalty, provision of a guarantee, or at least formal confirmation assuming responsibility for payment is mandatory for the issuance of outbound clearance. Failure to address these requirements in advance may lead to clearance delays, escalation of administrative measures, and, at subsequent port calls, the holding of the vessel.
While the matter remains under diplomatic discussion between Brazilian and Chinese authorities, owners, operators and charterers should reassess crew documentation and immigration compliance well in advance of Brazilian port calls, particularly where Chinese nationals are serving on foreign-flagged vessels, and should anticipate the financial and operational arrangements required should exposure to fines arise.