D/L Translation Required for Brasil?
Last week I was stopped by the Brasilian Military Police just outside Ilheus. What I thought was just a routine document check turned into something different when the officer threatened to tow and impound my bike. He had a problem with both my driver´s permit and the documentation for my motorcycle.
According to the officer my Canadian drivers´s license and my International Driver Permit (IDP) were not valid. I was required to have an official translation (from a tradutor juramentado) in Portugese of my driver´s license. The IDP had a Portugese page but Brasil does not recognize IDPs (they are not amoungst the countries listed in the the IDP). Later I checked the website for DETRAN, the Brasilian highway/transito authority, and apparently the officer was technically correct.
The second issue was with my motorcycle import documentation I received at the border. The officer stated my Declaração Simplificada de Importação (DSI) allowed my motorcycle to be in Brasil but I needed permission from DETRAN to operate it on Brasilian roads.
After a long heated discussion with my Brasilian passenger, we were allowed to leave after promising to check in at the nearest DETRAN office for the permission. I elected to contiinue to my destination and make inquiries later. We saw no mention of this requirement on the DETRAN website.
The question remains what are the correct documents for the foreign motorcyclist to carry in Brasil or is this just a chance encounter with police bureaucrat?
__________________
Ross Alan Davidson, 72, of Mississauga, Ontario died in the wee hours of July 9th 2018 surrounded by his loving family at home.
|