Prohibited items will be returned to the shipper or face a Customs hold in Argentina at the shipper's expense.
For any questions regarding this matter, please contact UPS Argentina.
Formal Entries:
Restricted items, (please check the commodities specific stipulations), shipments with a value of US$1,000.00 or greater or weighing more than 50 kg (110 Lbs) will require a formal clearance (Formal Entry) with a Third Party Customs Broker.
On the day of arrival UPS will send an email notification (only if e-mail address is available. If not, the contact will be by phone) in order to notify to the consignee the formal entrys requirement for the shipment. The consignee must pick-up the paperwork from our UPS counter at the following address: Pte. Luis Saenz Peña 1351, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires. Monday to Friday from 9 am to 7 pm.
For P/P & F/C shipments - all import charges must be paid by the receiver. After the arrival & classification of the shipment, UPS will move the packages to the Formal Import Customs Warehouse, separates the packages by consignees, and assign an Air Waybill (AWB) with a customs "tracking" number. Only the consignee and/or authorized persons (Customs Brokers) can clear these shipments.
The only port of import in Argentina is Buenos Aires, therefore:
For shipments to Buenos Aires, on the day before of arrival, the consignee must pick-up the paperwork from our UPS counter at the following address: Pte. Luis Saenz Peña 1351, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires. Monday to Friday from 9 am to 7 pm and will receive a copy of the AWB and necessary paperwork to process the formal entry. The system will be updated with a proof of delivery (POD) stating DN and the receiver's name. The consignee must pay US$62.00 + VAT and plus ARS $250 for handling in order to receive the shipment's paperwork (consignee will also have to pay the freight charges to receive paperwork if the billing option is F/C).
If the merchandise requires a Formal Entry and the consignee is in another location other than Buenos Aires, UPS will contact him/her to notify of the arrival of the shipment so the consignee can process the formal entry with a Third Party Broker in Buenos Aires. UPS will provide a Bond Transit of the merchandise from Buenos Aires Customs to Customs at the consignee's location but only if the consignee has a UPS account. In this particular case, there will be additional charges:
- Ezeiza Airport Warehouse Fees
- Customs Guard Fee
- Handling Fee
- Other transit charges (the freight charges from Buenos Aires Airport to the customs location outside of Buenos Aires is included in the original freight cost).
The consignee must make arrangements within 10 business days of arrival. After this time, customs bond transits cannot be processed. Please note that not all cities in Argentina have a local customs processing facility. After arrival and classification, UPS moves the packages to the Formal Import Customs Warehouse, separates the packages by consignees, and assigns an Air Waybill (AWB) with a Customs Tracking Number. The system will be updated with a DN SCS BROKER that serves as a Proof of Delivery (POD) only for consignee who selected UPS as the customs broker.
When the merchandise is imported for commercial purposes, including samples of any kind, the consignee will need to be registered at customs as an Importer and provide UPS their Import License in order to process the clearance of the shipment/s. UPS SCS will be unable to process the clearance without the cooperation of the consignee. Once the package is cleared and released from customs, UPS will deliver it to the consignee's door at no additional cost (this includes extended area shipments).
Shipments containing products that need certificates of origin or governmental interventions cannot be released by any particular consignee in Argentina, unless they are shipped to a company registered at Customs as an importer, and by submitting all required documents to import the product in Argentina.
The Argentine government officially announced a new Import Regulation, which went into effect on December 22nd, 2015 RG 3823/15), which applies to all formal imports (shipments which cannot be imported door to door) that requires Argentinean Government approval prior to purchasing any product outside the country or territory.
The importers are responsible to complete a sworn declaration through the customs system called SIMI (Imports Monitoring System) and obtain a government approval (delays are expected). Also Automatic and Non Automatic Licenses will have to be processed through the customs system, and the cargo will only be able to be released from customs once these licenses are approved by the Government and all additional requirements are met.
Again, this new regulation applies to all imports and products (no exceptions have been identified). All shipments on hold at customs for formal entry process, consigned to an importer, cannot be cleared without processing the SIMI, Automatic/Non-Automatic Licenses and any other Public Organism Certificate/Intervention.
Shipments not on the Exclusion List with a value below US$1,000.00, and weighing less than 50 kg (110 lbs.), are classified as Courier System shipments. Also any shipment send to a non-Argentine citizen will be importing under this Courier System.
Characteristics of Courier System shipments include the following:
- Shipments are consolidated under 1 waybill listing UPS as the shipper and UPS Argentina as the consignee.
- Only UPS Argentina has the authorization to clear packages through Customs after payment of duties and taxes.
- Customs completes the clearance process the morning of arrival.
- After collection of prepaid duties and taxes, distribution and door-to-door delivery takes place in the urban and suburban areas of Buenos Aries, Mendoza, Cordoba, Rosario, and La Plata on the same day of arrival. Other shipments are sent to agents for delivery.
Customs assesses an import handling fee as follows:
- Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value below US$500.00: 20% percent of CIF up to a maximum charge of US$60.00
- CIF value US$500.00 to US$1,000.00: 9.5% percent of CIF up to a maximum charge of US$110.00
- CIF value greater than US$1,000.00: the fee is US$80 + vat and a plus of ARS 303
- For return to shippers (RTS) processed as Courier System shipments, bureaucratic procedures are not necessary. The costs included are return shipping costs and prepaid Customs charges.
New customs resolution for import shipments focused on international E-Commerce (Resolution numbers 3915/16 & 3916/16)
Start Date: August 26th, 2016
Each consignee (individuals or companies) will be able to receive by Courier (door to door) 5 shipments per calendar year under this new regime. Shipments that can currently be imported by Courier will keep entering without the limitation of 5 shipments per year. For both cases, the import fees (Duties, Taxes and Handling) will be over the value and depending on the Harmonized Code.
Each shipment cannot contain more than 3 items of the same species, and the limits are 50Kgs and U$S 1,000. This new regime cannot be used for commercial purposes.
The most representative items allowed to be imported by Courier, which were previously restricted are:
- Food (ready for sale)
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Measurement tools
- Steel products
- Toys
- Sport goods
- Videogames
- Eyeglasses & Sunglasses
- Electronic items (cellphones, computers, tablets, etc.)
- Printed material (books, brochures, magazines, etc.)
- Personal protections items
- Textiles & Clothing
- Footwear
- Watches
- Perfumes
- Automotive & Motorcycle Parts (Tires, etc.)
- Musical Instruments
- Etc.
Once the shipment is delivered, the consignee will have to validate the information at the Tax Agency webpage (www.afip.gob.ar) within 30 days.
- If this process is not performed on time, the consignee won't be able to receive future shipments by Courier within the calendar year.
- In order to perform this process, the consignee's tax id must have a fiscal code security level 3 or more (photo and fingerprints previously registered).
- Any other process through the Tax Agency currently in place will be automatically removed and no longer required.
Credit card payments are accepted upon delivery for freight and import charges by this destination. Contact UPS or the UPS service partner in the destination country or territory to determine which credit cards are accepted.Restrictions may apply for freight collect shipments from the origin country or territory. Contact UPS or the UPS service partner in the origin country or territory prior to shipping.
UPS cannot deliver to a P.O. Box address. All packages require a consignee's contact name and complete street address including apartment, suite or unit number if applicable. The consignee's telephone number should be provided if known.