DUTY-FREE SHOPPING ON THE BRAZIL BORDER
OVERVIEW
In 1987, the Uruguayan government created duty free shopping zones in Uruguay towns along the Brazil border as a way to boost the economies in these less affluent areas. They are not what you would expect. Visitors from either side of the border are allowed to shop in the Uruguay duty free stores. For Uruguayans, that means duty free shopping without leaving the country, although most visitors shop on both sides of the open border. Uruguayan pesos (UYU) and Brazilian reals (BRL) are accepted in many stores, as well as U.S. dollars (USD). Credit cards are widely used, making transactions easy for international visitors.
CUSTOMS & IMMIGRATION
There are six Uruguay border towns with duty free shopping status, with different configurations for where the Uruguay customs (Aduana) checkpoints are located. The importance of those locations is that they determine whether or not there is a possibility of having your Uruguay duty free purchases checked for any applicable customs duties.
In the border towns of Artigas and Bella Unión in the far north, and Rio Branca closer to the coast, the borders are demarcated by rivers. The immigration and customs checkpoints at the Brazil end of the international bridges are often unstaffed, so you can just drive through without stopping, or are generally just waved through if they are staffed.
Likewise, at the Uruguay checkpoints when coming back over the international bridges into Artigas and Bella Unión, you are often just waved through without being stopped (Rio Branca’s checkpoint is inland). Artigas and Bella Unión are unique in that there are no customs checkpoints between the Uruguay duty free stores and heading back into the interior of Uruguay, so there are no customs checks of what you may have purchased in the duty free stores.
For the other four border towns – three with land borders and Rio Branco with its river border, the customs checkpoint is on the town outskirts, along the main departure roads. As you pass through these Uruguay customs checkpoints they may inspect your purchases, but generally don’t.
No serious ID for visa requirements are enforced on either side of the border, but you should have your ID with you - cédula or passport - even though you may not need to show it. If you hold an Uruguayan cédula en trámite (temporary resident ID), it’s a good idea to have a re-entry permit with you, although the odds of having to use it are very slim. Since it is possible to shop duty free on the Uruguay side of the border without entering Brazil, a customs official would not know (or care) if you’d crossed the street or river into Brazil.
DUTY FREE BORDER TOWNS FROM THE COAST TO THE NORTH
Chuy (& Chuí, Brazil) – the border is formed by a shared boulevard. It is the most popular duty free Brazil border town in Uruguay, due to its proximity to Uruguay’s populated coastline. It’s covered in more detail below. Customs checkpoint: town outskirts.
Rio Branco (& Jaguarão, Brazil) – the Río Yaguaron forms the border. A bridge connects Rio Branco and Jaguarão. Customs checkpoint: town outskirts.
Aceguá (& Aceguá, Brazil) - a single main road forms the border. Customs checkpoint: town outskirts.
Rivera (& Santana do Livramento, Brazil) – the border is the main boulevard separating the two cities. Rivera is the largest duty free city on the Brazil border, and considered the most vibrant. Customs checkpoint: town outskirts.
Artigas (& Quaraí, Brazil) – The Río Cuareim forms the border, and a bridge connects the two towns. Customs checkpoint: Uruguay end of the international bridge to Brazil.
Bella Unión (& Barra do Quaraí, Brazil) – the Río Quaraí forms the border between the two towns, which are connected by a bridge. The Río Uruguay forms a further border between Uruguay and both Brazil and Argentina. Bella Unión also has a vehicle and passenger ferry to Monte Caseros, Argentina, with crossings taking about 15 minutes. The nearest bridge to Argentina is in Salto, 140 kilometers south. Customs checkpoint: Uruguay end of the international bridge to Brazil, and at Estación Fluvial de Bella Unión (the ferry terminal, for boats arriving from Argentina or Brazil).
INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE CROSSINGS
It is best to avoid crossing the bridges into Brazil on weekends or at the end of the month when people are paid. More shoppers then can sometimes result in long delays on the bridges.
WHAT TO SHOP FOR
The goods stocked in the duty free shops in Uruguay include the usual luxury items you would find in airports, but also larger electronic appliances, housewares, sporting goods, etc. The items on sale are generally much cheaper than in non-duty free stores in Uruguay. For example, imported cans of beer in the duty free stores are less than half the price of domestic beers in the Uruguay supermarkets.
Duty Free Americas (“DFA”) is the largest operator of duty free shops along the Brazil border, with stores in all six of the duty free border towns. You can request a free discount card which will get you another ten percent off their duty free prices.
Shopping on the Brazil side is not exactly “duty free” in the normal sense of the term, but there is no duty imposed on re-entering Uruguay if the purchases are obviously for personal use – if you are checked at all. Brazil shopping is primarily for groceries, clothing, housewares, etc., which are much cheaper there. For example, Brazilian coffee is way less than half the price of the same product in Uruguay supermarkets. When driving, it is also a bargain to fill up the tank with naphtha (aka “petrol,” “gas,” “gasoline”) in Brazil, which is a little more than half the price at service stations in Uruguay.
Prescription drugs are another category of goods that many shoppers pick up in Brazil. They are generally cheaper and there are often medicines available that can’t be found in Uruguay, Ozympic being an example. Other than narcotic drugs, generally no prescriptions are required.
CHUI, URUGUAY & CHUÍ, BRAZIL
Dusty little Chuy and Chuí together form one of the most unusual towns you will ever visit, and the best-known duty-free shopping location on the Uruguay-Brazil border. The Duty Free Americas store there is the only one of their six that is open on Mondays, and they also have the longest business hours – 9:30 am to 7:30 pm daily.
The invisible international line runs right down the middle of the broad avenue that passes through the center of the town. The Brazil side is Av Uruguay, which heads into the shopping area from Ruta 9. On the Uruguay side, it is Av Brazil which heads back out of the shopping area. Every time you do a U-turn on one-way, counter-clockwise Av Uruguay and Av Brazil, or walk across the street, you are crossing the international border.
As you approach Chuy on Uruguay’s Ruta 9, you will notice Aduana de Chuy (Uruguay Customs) across the road, which is 2.2 kilometers from the border. There are no border checks of any kind on the way into Chuy or Chuí. At the traffic circle on Ruta 9, continuing straight ahead it is 1.7 kilometers to the Marco da Fronteira, - a border marker on the left, flanked by the flags of Uruguay and Brazil. It sits on the median between Av Brazil and Av Uruguay. If you start seeing signs in Portuguese, you missed the turn, but no big deal, just do a U-turn and head back a little ways.
The second exit out of the Ruta 9 traffic circle, Av Gral. Artigas heading towards the Chuy bus terminal, also takes you to the Av Brazil – Av Uruguay border, but in the middle of the shopping strip rather than at the start.
With the duty free stores primarily on the Uruguay side of the border, you could actually shop duty-free without ever having crossed into Brazil, such as if you walked the last block into town from Ruta 9, or arrived via Av Gral. Artigas and turned right on Av Brazil (heading back towards Ruta 9). There would be no point in not crossing the border, though, and almost everyone shops both sides.
Among pharmacies, the first pharmacy you see on the right (Brazil) side when entering Av. Uruguay from Ruta 9, is the funky looking Farmácia Uruguai, at Av. Uruguay, 975-1039. It is well stocked and has lower prices than the more upmarket establishments further up the street.
If you park your car along Av Uruguay or Av Brazil, on returning you’ll likely find a small slip of paper tucked into your side driver’s window, advertising a service station, Postos Kings. It’s at Av Uruguay, 2122 on the Brazil side, just past where most of the shopping ends. As a last stop in Chuí, the fuel is so much cheaper than in Uruguay that filling up an empty tank almost pays for the trip from locations in Eastern Uruguay. Postos Kings also serve you small cups of strong, sweet Brazilian coffee while they are filling your tank and you are looking at the zany collection of photos of world antiquities decorating their surrounding walls, from the Egyptian Sphinx to Machu Picchu.
Chuy – Chuí has no memorable architecture or cultural attractions, nor quaint places to stay. Its charm is in its uniqueness and its quirkiness, with the invisible border separating the duty-free stores on the Uruguay side from the supermarkets, pharmacies, clothing and hardware stores on Brazil side. While it has no renowned dining establishments, one of the better options for lunch or dinner is the small family run Shawarma Rayan Restaurante at R. Venezuela, 91 – Centro, half a block from the border on the Brazil side, with very tasty and inexpensive Middle Eastern dishes.
For day trips driving to Chuy-Chuí in the morning from the Uruguay side of the border and back in the evening, you can have bright sunshine in your eyes in both directions. That makes it tempting to stay a night or two in Punta del Diablo on the way – driving there in the afternoon, and doing a morning return.
Heading out of Chuy-Chui on Ruta 9, you pass through the Aduana de Chuy checkpoint, which is normally a very relaxed process. You show your ID and typically get waved through without opening the trunk of the car.
DUTY FREE SHOPPING LIMITS
There seems to be no online resource showing exact, precise, consistent duty free shopping limits on imports being brought into Uruguay. The results of web-searches are wide and conflicting. The most common result seems to be US$500 per person.
Cheaper goods that you see in ferias (outside markets) across Uruguay are often brought in from the Brazil side of the border by small businesses that are allowed to do so for resale, without being charged duties.
The duty free towns of Chuy, Rio Branco, Aceguá,
Rivera, Artigas, and Bella Unión
.