The answers in this interview have been adapted to the author's original language to facilitate conceptual understanding.. | Read in Portuguese
Days before resuming the traditional Friday opinion columns, Aduana News spoke with Raquel Segalla Reis, who shared her perspective with clarity and depth. Raquel Segalla Reis is a young Brazilian researcher from the research group «Perspectives and Challenges of the Current Customs Administration» from the Catholic University of Brasilia, where he also earned his Master's degree in Law. He specializes in Customs Law and Foreign Trade from the University of Vale do Itajaí (UNIVALI), among other areas of specialization.
His work focuses on risk management in customs clearance and the use of artificial intelligence as a customs control tool. In this interview, we address three questions about the challenges of customs law in Brazil, exploring his academic approach and highlighting the innovative legal criteria being pioneered in the country.
In your analysis of Brazilian customs law, you highlight its role in regulating human conduct and protecting social goods and values. What do you consider to be the main challenges Brazil faces today in consolidating customs law that balances trade control and facilitation?
-Allow me to respond to this question by commenting, for the first time, on some of the two challenges that the Brazilian customs administration faces in seeking a balance between security and facilitation of trade, so that after all, it is necessary to discuss the Brazilian customs administration and its mission to conform to these and other functions. State-Customs. Brazil is a country of large territorial dimensions and, in this sense, the regulation of the Federal Revenue of Brazil is not concentrated only at the ports and airports of the country, but rather at its entire border extension, which requires technological mechanisms that allow us to supervise the immense flow of people, vehicles and markets that enter our country. territory daily. At the same time that we are strategically positioned to enable global value chains of approximately 30% of the volume transacted in the country to be carried out by authorized economic operators, we are becoming increasingly vulnerable to criminal organizations, whose fraudulent activity is increasingly sophisticated, daily challenging the customs divisions of surveillance and repressão. Just like other customs administrations around the world, Brazilian customs has found an operational model based on a solution to the balance of these challenges, for whose operation it is essential to have available information and intelligent technologies. As for the customs direito itself, it should be noted that the Brazilian regulatory requirements in customs matters have their bases erected from normative instruments produced directly by the Executive Branch, disregarding even the desired codification. Despite the recent progress in legal regulation, especially to receive some facilitation measures on trade, the legal formation of the various customs functions, in our view, requires the institution of formal law, which observes a truly democratic legislative process.
La Customs modernization in Brazil has advanced with the use of artificial intelligence, and you've addressed this topic in your research. How do you think these innovations can improve the efficiency of customs control and foreign trade?
-The development and implementation of artificial intelligence tools in Brazilian customs control activities is a great example for the world in terms of digital transformation. The Brazilian Federal Revenue currently has a lot of technological hardware, whose applications come from the monitoring of passengers, passing the control of vehicles at borders, express shipments, and the use of machine learning to predict errors and frauds committed in the course of customs clearance. These solutions, as is known, are conceived in the global context of trade facilitation, as well as simplification and harmonization of customs procedures. Therefore, there is no doubt that algorithms and artificial intelligence will help Brazilian customs to better manage their risks. There is no lack of statistics that confirm our gains in terms of cost, time, without faltering in the valorization of human capital, since these initiatives free up customs agents for more complex activities. However, the benefits achieved by the management of customs risks from the use of historical data, mathematical instructions and self-learning systems do not dispense with the discussion on these risks. In our research we demonstrate with examples that automated decision processes joints Autonomous algorithms can become discriminatory, erroneous and lacking in transparency, or they can affect, via transversal means, the freedom and property of two individuals. That said, this is not a denialist or proibitive position, or that it would be naive, since the technological revolution in progress reveals the inevitable need to treat digital technologies strategically, or that Brazilian customs have been doing so for almost a decade. What we defend is that this set of technical rules at the service of customs control is only certified for the efficiency of risk management and our algorithmic processes of artificial intelligence, but our confirmation system – or legal system. The rights and fundamental guarantees of administrations must emerge as a basic concept for the architecture of these tools, even if their application is justified by the power of the police. The key to this, it seems to us, is to pass both the legal regulation of its application and the possibility of auditability and controllability of its results.
Do you believe that the addition of Portuguese to our media platform will contribute to more harmonious communication among readers, promoting greater understanding and strengthening knowledge of customs law, as well as trust, especially in these times of global challenges?
-I have no doubt that the incorporation of Portuguese to the platform Aduana News It will be beneficial not only for Brazilians and natives of other Portuguese-speaking countries, who will eventually be able to see the Spanish language as a barrier for the absorption of knowledge, but also for the customs community in general, which from now on will be able to take contact with the growing Brazilian academic production, Yes, the topic is becoming more and more widespread in universities. Soma-se isso a possibilitée de conhecer atividade judicante two administrative and judiciais tribunals in matters, which see us going through significant technical maturity, in addition to being able to accompany and better understand the initiatives of Brazilian customs in the exercise of their essential functions.
Starting Friday, March 28, the guest columns for 2025 begin. Raquel will be one of the stars of this new season.
Aduana News foi o primeiro jornal aduaneiro da Argentina a lançar sua versão digital. Com mais de 20 anos de trajetória, suas publicações e iniciativas têm como objetivo oferecer o conhecimento mais relevante sobre temas aduaneiros, contribuindo para a promoção do comércio seguro e da facilitação do comércio na região.
