NCM means "Mercosur Common Nomenclature" and it is a eight digit code established by the Brazilian Government to identify the nature of the goods and to promote the development of international trade, in addition to facilitating the collection and analysis of foreign trade statistics.
Any merchandise, imported or purchased in Brazil, must have an NCM code in its legal documentation (invoice, legal books, etc.), whose purpose is to classify items according to regulations of the Mercosur.
The NCM was adopted in January 1995 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and is based on the SH (Harmonized Commodity Designation and Coding System). For this reason there is the acronym NCM/SH.
SH is an international method of classification of goods that contains a code structure with the description of specific characteristics of the products, such as the origin of the product, the materials that compose it and its application.
Of the eight digits that make up the NCM, the first six are SH classifications. The last two digits are part of Mercosur's own specifications.
A search for the NCM code 0102.10.10 allows you to determine that it is:
01 - Live Animals
0102 - Live Bovine Animals
010210 - Purebred Breeders
01021010 - Pregnant or with calf at the foot.
The fiscal classification of goods is the responsibility of the SRF (Secretariat of the Federal Revenue Service). As of January 1, 2010 the inclusion of the NCM/SH categorization of products in tax documents became mandatory.
It is possible to find tables with NCM codes. There is also the possibility of searching the IRS website, entering the product description or searching according to chapter, position, subposition, item and subitem codes.