glossary

Mercosul – Mercado Comum do Sul
Mercosur (Spanish) or Mercosul (Portuguese) is a Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) among Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency. Bolivia, Chille, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru currently have associate member status.

MERX
The electronic tendering system used by the Canadian federal and several provincial governments for managing government purchasing. http://www.merx.com

MF – see Ministério da Fazenda

Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA)
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply. http://www.agricultura.gov.br

Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria e Comércio Exterior (MDIC)
Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade http://mdic.gov.br

Ministério da Fazenda (MF)
Ministry of Finance http://www.fazenda.gov.br

Ministério das Relações Exteriores (MRE)
Ministry of External Relations http://www.mre.gov.br

MRE – see Ministério das Relações Exteriores
NAFTA – see North American Free Trade Agreement
NAICS – see North American Industry Classification System

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
NAFTA is a free trade agreement whose members are Canada, Mexico and the United States. http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/DefaultSite/index.html

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
This classification system is used for organizing economic data by industry, and is used by Canada, Mexico and the United States. NAICS is revised on a five-year cycle in order to ensure that the classification continues to reflect the rapidly changing structure of the economy. NAICS 2007 groups economic activity into 20 sectors and 928 Canadian industries. http://www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/
bsolc?catno=12-501-X

SBCE – see Seguradora Brasileira de Crédito à Exportação S.A.
Sebrae – see Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas

Seguradora Brasileira de Crédito à Exportação S.A. (SBCE)
The Seguradora Brasileira Crédito à Exportação provides export credit insurance to Brazilian exporters, against the risk of default arising from foreign buyers. http://www.sbce.com.br/

Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas (Sebrae)
An association providing activities and resources supporting Brazilian entrepreneurs. http://www.sebrae.com.br

Editor's Pick

A comprehensive guide to international trade terms is the Dictionary of International Trade, available for purchase from I.E. Canada, see http://www.iecanada.com/publications/
06_07_01_dictionary_order_form.pdf The World Trade Press Dictionary of International Trade is the most respected and best selling dictionary of trade in the world. It is in use in more than 100 countries by importers, exporters, bankers, shippers, logistics professionals, attorneys, economists and government officials. This glossary covers the many acronyms and abbreviations for organizations and terminology that are frequently used in trade between Canada and Brazil, as well as the names of important documents. [English]

Explanations of many general trade terms may be found at http://www.exportsource.ca/gol/exportsource/
site.nsf/en/es02164.html [English, French]

Glossário
http://www.exportadoronline.com.br/ (under “Como Exportar”, click on “Glossario”)
An extensive dictionary of international trade terms. Browse alphabetically or search by keyword. [Portuguese]

SIC – see Standard Industrial Classification System
SIPRI – see Sistema Integrado de Investimentos
Siscomex – see Sistema Integrado de Comércio Exterior

Sistema Integrado de Investimentos (SIPRI)
A program of the Ministério das Relações Exteriores, aimed at attracting investment to Brazil. http://www.braziltradenet.gov.br/
Investimentos/P/sipri.aspx

Sistema Integrado de Comércio Exterior (Siscomex)
Integrated Foreign Trade System. Siscomex is a system for managing export and import documentation. http://www.receita.fazenda.gov.br/aduana/
siscomex/siscomex.htm

Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC)
Canadian Standard Industrial Classification is a system for classifying companies and enterprises according to the activities in which they are engaged. SIC has been replaced by NAICS Canada.

Statistics Canada
In Canada, providing statistics is a federal responsibility. As Canada’s central statistical agency, Statistics Canada is legislated to serve this function for the whole of Canada and each of the provinces. http://www.statcan.ca

StatCan – see Statistics Canada

TCS – see Canadian Trade Commissioner Service
TFO Canada – see Trade Facilitation Office Canada

Trade Facilitation Office Canada (TFO Canada)
http://www.tfoc.ca .