Zona Franca de Manaus: Medindo o Impacto da Política Pública para a Indústria Brasileira

The report analyzes the Zona Franca de Manaus (ZFM) as a public policy tool for industrial development in Brazil. It details the complex system of tax incentives—including exemptions and reductions in IPI, PIS/PASEP, and COFINS—and evaluates their distribution across key sectors such as two-wheelers, audio/video, and non-alcoholic beverages. The study compares the ZFM's industrial performance and workforce concentration against national Brazilian averages and provides a brief comparative overview of free trade zones in other countries including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the US, Canada, and China.

• The ZFM utilizes a variety of tax incentives, including exemptions on imports for internal consumption and industrialization, and reductions in IPI based on the Processo de Industrialização (CRA) formula.
• Excluding differentiated rates and merchandise acquisitions, the estimated tax expenditure for the ZFM alone is R$ 23 billion.
• The electronics and optics sector is the largest in the ZFM, accounting for 36% of the Gross Value of Industrial Production and 35% of Net Industrial Sales revenue.
• The two-wheeler sector is the most significant beneficiary of estimated tax expenditures within the ZFM, representing 26.9% of the total.
• The ZFM shows a high concentration of the national workforce in specific sectors; for example, the two-wheeler sector in the ZFM represents 56% of the total occupied personnel in that sector across Brazil.
• The report identifies a legal conflict regarding IPI credits, where the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (CARF) rules that buyers of exempt ZFM products do not possess IPI credits.

APA

Assunção, J., Schutze, A., & Holz, R. (2020). Zona Franca de Manaus: Medindo o Impacto da Política Pública para a Indústria Brasileira. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Zona-Franca-de-Manaus-Medindo-o-impacto-da-politica-publica-para-a-industria-brasileira.pdf

Chicago

Assunção, Juliano, Amanda Schutze, and Rhayana Holz. Zona Franca de Manaus: Medindo o Impacto da Política Pública para a Indústria Brasileira. Climate Policy Initiative, 2020. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Zona-Franca-de-Manaus-Medindo-o-impacto-da-politica-publica-para-a-industria-brasileira.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Assunção |first1=Juliano |last2=Schutze |first2=Amanda |last3=Holz |first3=Rhayana |title=Zona Franca de Manaus: Medindo o Impacto da Política Pública para a Indústria Brasileira |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Zona-Franca-de-Manaus-Medindo-o-impacto-da-politica-publica-para-a-industria-brasileira.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{assuno2020zona, author = {Assunção, Juliano and Schutze, Amanda and Holz, Rhayana}, title = {{Zona Franca de Manaus: Medindo o Impacto da Política Pública para a Indústria Brasileira}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Zona-Franca-de-Manaus-Medindo-o-impacto-da-politica-publica-para-a-industria-brasileira.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }