Product Compliance

Brazil requires a GTIN on every shoe from 31 July, but non-compliant stock can stay on shelves until 2027

From 31 July 2026, Brazil's INMETRO (Portaria nº 459/2025) bars manufacturers and importers from supplying footwear to the domestic market unless it carries a GTIN alongside brand, manufacturer CNPJ, country of origin and composition data, making a standard voluntary since 2018 (ABNT NBR 16679) compulsory for the first time. Nearly every outlet calls this an anti-piracy label. The nuance it misses: retailers get until 31 December 2027, 17 more months, to sell through stock that was never tagged at all.

Naomie HaliouaCDO and co-founder 6 July 2026 · 6 min read

What Portaria 459 actually requires, and when

Portaria INMETRO nº 459, of 19 August 2025, makes compliance with ABNT NBR 16679:2018 (a footwear composition-labeling standard that has existed, voluntarily, since 2018) mandatory for the first time. From 31 July 2026, manufacturers and importers may supply Brazil’s national market only with footwear that carries a permanent label (brand or company name and the manufacturer’s CNPJ, country of origin written in Portuguese, and national sizing), a removable label stating the shoe’s predominant composition, and a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) or equivalent international identifier applied to the packaging or the footwear itself. Distributors and retailers, physical and e-commerce, have until 31 December 2027 to sell through footwear that predates the rule.

Three nuances that separate signal from noise

A status change, not a new sticker

The composition/origin label already existed as a voluntary ABNT standard since 2018. What’s new is that it becomes compulsory, with a GTIN added.

Importers are squarely in scope

Any footwear entering Brazil’s national market from 31 July 2026 needs the same compliant label, whether it is made domestically or abroad.

Two deadlines, 17 months apart

Manufacturers and importers must comply by 31 July 2026; distributors and retailers get until 31 December 2027 to sell through non-compliant stock.

2018

ABNT NBR 16679 (footwear composition label) is published: voluntary use.

19 Aug 2025

INMETRO issues Portaria nº 459, making the standard compulsory and adding the GTIN requirement.

31 Jul 2026

Manufacturers and importers may supply only compliant footwear to Brazil’s national market.

31 Dec 2027

Distributors and retailers (physical and e-commerce) may sell only compliant footwear.

One GTIN, five data points, one accountable brand owner

For imported footwear, the GTIN or equivalent identifier is assigned by the brand or trademark holder, who guarantees the accuracy of the declared product information: a responsibility that can sit with the domestic or foreign manufacturer, the importer, the wholesaler or the retailer, depending on who assumes it in the chain. GS1 Brasil frames the GTIN’s function plainly: it makes the item traceable from manufacturing through to the store shelf, and it serves both fiscal control and a consumer’s ability to check whether the pair in front of them is genuine.

2018

the year ABNT NBR 16679 was first published: as a voluntary standard

data points required per pair: brand/CNPJ, origin, sizing, composition, GTIN

17 mo

gap between the manufacturer/importer deadline and the retail sell-through deadline

The real subject: a per-SKU data mandate wearing an anti-piracy label

Brazilian trade press and industry bodies are unanimous that this is about counterfeiting: Abicalçados, the footwear industry association, had asked for it, and the Portaria explicitly targets pirated and unofficial goods. That is accurate, but it is not the operational story for a brand. What Portaria 459 actually asks for is a clean, verified, machine-readable record per SKU, not per style or product line, that ties a specific manufacturer CNPJ, a specific country of origin, a specific composition and a specific GTIN to a specific pair, before a single unit can be manufactured for, or imported into, the Brazilian market.

Because the brand or trademark holder guarantees that declaration regardless of which party in the chain physically assumes it, a wrong composition entry or a stale CNPJ is not a labeling-vendor error to fix later: it is a compliance failure attached to the brand from the moment the GTIN is assigned. And because retailers get until 31 December 2027 to sell through anything made before the rule, a brand’s own systems must distinguish GTIN-tagged, compliant SKUs from legacy ones inside the same catalogue for a year and a half: the exact kind of state that a static spreadsheet, updated once at launch, cannot hold.

Why it matters for brands

Any global footwear brand manufacturing in Brazil or importing into it needs the brand/CNPJ, origin, composition and GTIN mapped at SKU level, accounting for the fact that composition and country of origin can differ between colourways or seasonal runs of what looks, on a product sheet, like a single style. A shipment declared against the wrong data can be turned back at the manufacturer/importer gate from 31 July 2026, even while an older, non-compliant batch is still legally sitting on a retail partner’s shelf under the extended 2027 deadline. Treating this as a print job for a labeling vendor, rather than a product-data problem to solve before the SKU ships, is the mistake the anti-piracy framing invites.

Two ways to read 31 July

The narrow read

Brazil cracks down on counterfeit footwear with a mandatory identification label. File it under anti-piracy enforcement.

The structural read

A voluntary composition standard becomes a compulsory, GTIN-anchored data record per SKU, with liability following whichever party in the chain assumes the declaration: phased across a 17-month gap between manufacturing and retail. That gap only stays manageable if a brand’s product data tracks which SKUs are compliant, in real time.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly changes in Brazil on 31 July 2026?

Under Portaria INMETRO nº 459, of 19 August 2025, manufacturers and importers may no longer supply footwear to Brazil's national market unless it complies with ABNT NBR 16679:2018, a footwear composition-labeling standard in force since 2018 but voluntary until now. From that date, footwear must carry a permanent label (brand or company name and the manufacturer's CNPJ, country of origin in Portuguese, and national sizing), a removable label stating predominant composition, and a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) or equivalent unique identifier on the packaging or the shoe itself.

Does this apply to imported footwear, or only Brazilian manufacturers?

It applies to importers as well as domestic manufacturers: any footwear supplied to Brazil's national market from 31 July 2026 must comply, regardless of where it is made. For imported footwear, the GTIN or equivalent identifier is assigned by the brand or trademark holder, who guarantees the accuracy of the declared product information; that responsibility can sit with the domestic or foreign manufacturer, the importer, the wholesaler or the retailer, depending on who assumes it in the supply chain.

When do retailers have to stop selling non-compliant footwear?

Not until 31 December 2027: seventeen months after the manufacturer/importer deadline. Physical and e-commerce retailers can continue selling footwear that predates the rule until then, meaning compliant, GTIN-tagged stock and older, non-compliant stock will circulate in the same stores simultaneously for a year and a half.