Journal of African Development

This paper reviews the analysis of operational application and strategic implications of duty drawback regimes in the export oriented companies in Santa Catarina, Brazil, with an objective of gaining a better understanding of how the mechanisms increases the competitiveness of exports. The research design adopted was descriptive and exploratory, combining the documentary analysis of the government reports, trade policies and industry statistics with the primary data obtained using structured electronic questionnaires served in the sampled 44 exporting firms. Quantitative/qualitative data were collected covering the participation in sectors, preference of drawback modalities, the logistical practices and the perceived obstacle to adoption. The results reveal that the main beneficiaries of the duty drawback mechanisms are the medium and large enterprises; moreover, the most popular modality of the suspension is the most frequently used because of the simplicity of the procedure and its economic benefits. Smaller companies show little activity due to both regulatory complexity, shortage of qualified staff, and administrative overhead. The research concludes that capacity-building, streamlined processes, and reaching out to the policy are the only required measures to expand the participation so that duty drawback programs become effective tools of regional industrialization and global market integration