There are special stipulations on the following commodities when shipping to San Marino. If you plan to ship one of the commodities listed below, be sure to adhere to the following stipulations in order to avoid delays and holds at customs.
- Cows, goats, sheep, and pigs are considered domesticated animals.All other animals are considered non-domesticated animals. Items or products made from non-domesticated animals are restricted in the UPS system and only allowed with a UPS ISC contract. CITES permit and additional restrictions may apply, please check with your local ISC Coordinator.
All animal products must be accompanied by a Health Certificate, except processed leather, processed horn or varnished feathers. When importing meat, fish and other food that contains animal products (like milk, cheese, etc.) the following issues have to be considered:
- There is no difference between commercial and non-commercial shipments (or between businesses or from businesses to consumers).
- The shipment must be accompanied by a Health Certificate that has to be provided by the shipper. The Certificate must be original (no copies will be accepted) and has to be stamped and signed by the official agency in the export country or territory.
- The Health Certificate is only valid if the company which provided it has a registration number in the European Union.
- The shipment will be inspected by a veterinarian at the point of arrival into the EU. Inspection in the destination country or territory is possible due to national food laws.
- Brokerage accessorial charges may apply.
- For gift shipments, see gift exemption section.
Note: The only exception to this is for fish and fish products up to 1 kg. which doesn't require a veterinarian inspection or health certificate if they are a gift shipment between private individuals.
- Raw coffee requires a phytosanitary inspection and cannot be cleared at the UPS ports of entry, Bergamo (BGY) and Treviso (TSF), because both locations are not assigned by the Italian Ministry of Health.
Customs accepts a maximum of 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs.) of roasted coffee for packing test or similar purposes without an import permit but the importer must provide a written declaration or confirmation of the usage.
Commercial imports of roasted coffee must be compliant with Italian requirements regarding labeling of goods (detailed description of the content, expiration date, etc.). It is the importers responsibility to obtain the import permit from the Ministry of Health. For further details please contact your Chamber of Commerce.
- Shipments of cosmetics must be compliant with EU requirements regarding labelling. The labelling needs to be in Italian language with a detailed description of the ingredients of goods (e.g. content, expiry date, etc.).
Importer must provide a health permit (issued by Health Minister Border Office) that can be requested through UPS with additional costs.
Cosmetics without an import permit must be abandoned or returned on shippers expense.
Private individuals can import small quantities of cosmetic products without an import permit; Customs usually accept a maximum of two different kinds and a maximum of two items of each kind.
- Cheese, milk, and milk products are considered Animal Products. Refer to Animal Products.
- Please see Medicine section
- Customs requires that private consignees provide a written declaration stating that the goods are for "personal use only".
Commercial importers must provide a declaration stating that "Italian royalties have been paid" to competent authorities.
- Customs requires that private consignees provide a written declaration stating that the goods are for "personal use only".
Commercial importers must provide a declaration stating that "Italian royalties have been paid" to competent authorities.
- The Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) prohibits shipments containing leather products made from non-domesticated animals. This applies to watches with leather straps.
For leather goods not covered by CITES, the consignee must declare that the leather is not from a protected animal species. The invoice or the importer's additional declaration must include the Latin scientific name of the animal.
- Commercial shipments of medical devices must be compliant with EU requirements regarding labeling. It needs to be labelled in Italian for import (detailed description of the content etc.)
Importer must provide a health permit (issued by Health Minister Border Office) that can be requested through UPS with additional costs. Delays may occur.
Medical devices must also fulfil the requirements of the product safety regulations of the European Union. For further information please see the information regarding 'Declaration of Conformity' under header 'Additional Import Documentation'.
- Shipments of medicine require a health permit (issued by Health Minister Border Office) that can be requested through UPS with additional costs. Delays may occur.
Private importers, in addition, must provide a prescription from an Italian doctor stating the medicine will be taken under the doctor's supervision. In case alternative pharmaceutical product (also different than the shipped one) for the same disease is available in Italy, import will not be allowed.
For Nutritional supplements, the prescription needs to show details of the dosage/amount which cannot exceed 8 weeks supply.
- Shipments of military equipment are acceptable to NATO bases only.
- Customs requires that private consignees provide a written declaration stating that the goods are for "personal use only".
Commercial importers must provide a declaration stating that "Italian royalties have been paid" to competent authorities.
- Commercial shipments of nutritional supplements that are not registered in Italy require an import permit from the Ministry of Health which must be obtained by the importer prior to final importation.
Commercial shipments containing nutritional supplements that are already registered in Italy do not require an import permit.
Private importers must provide a prescription from an Italian doctor stating the nutritional supplements will be taken under the doctor's supervision. A delay in customs clearance may occur.A UPS surcharge may apply to include the additional consignee declaration and physician prescription and an import permit issued by the Ministry of Health at the custom's port of destination.
- Most of modern test reagents for diagnostic research are built on antibodies which are generated from animal tissue. There are two types of antibodies, the monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies are generated in vitro. Tissue from animals are taken (e.g. blood) and infected with certain substances or pathogens. The blood cells react with the production of antibodies which are than harvested and used for the production of the test kits. Due to the in vitro production and the controlled way of production those types of test kits are not subject to veterinarian control if it is a commercial production.
Polyclonal antibodies are gained from living animals like rabbits. They are infected with the substances / pathogens and the animals are producing antibodies. The antibodies are harvested from the blood stream of the animals. Test reagents with polyclonal antibodies are subject to vet inspections.
Shipment documents (commercial invoice or declaration on letterhead) should include:
the place of origin of the material
the quantity of the material, in weight or volume
a description of the material/ animal source
catalogue number and price (if available)
additives (e.g., sodium azide, glycerol), their source (e.g., whole serum, supernatant, ascites), and purification, if any.
protocols the recommended protocol or datasheet indicating any unique fixation, detergent, blocking, or incubation conditions.
the intended use (commercial/ manufacturing; research/ testing)
the name and address of the shipper
the name and address of the receiver
Commercially packaged, ready-to-use In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) containing products of animal of origin, do not require a Vet-inspection, if compliant with Directive 98/79/EC on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices. A declaration of conformity (CE-marking) must be provided for each individual commodity (e.g. reagents, test kits, immunosorbent assays such as ELISA kits.
- Samples must be marked or mutilated in a way that ensures the use only as a sample. This will allow the samples to import without a Certificate of Origin. The shipment should include only the number of samples necessary for the purpose of testing. The shipper must write "marked/mutilated samples with no commercial value" on all export documentation.
- Textile shipments may require a Certificate of Origin depending on the harmonized tariff code.
Customs may require an import license for some commercial textile shipments depending on the harmonized tariff code. The importer must obtain the import license from the Ministry of Foreign Trade.
Private importers are allowed to import appropriate quantities of textiles for personal use without a Certificate of Origin.
Textile samples must be marked or mutilated in a way that ensures the use only as a sample. This will allow samples to be imported without a Certificate of Origin. The shipment must include only the number of samples necessary for the purpose of testing. The shipper must write "marked/mutilated samples with no commercial value" on all export documentation. The requirement of a Certificate of Origin and an import license is dependent on the country or territory of origin of the goods not the country or territory of export.
For further details, please contact your Chamber of Commerce or visit www.europa.eu.int
- Data shipments require an invoice with the character of the USB stick (storing intercompany data) and the value of the USB Stick.
- Commercial shipments of vitamins that are not registered in Italy require an import permit from the Ministry of Health which must be obtained by the importer prior to final importation.
Commercial shipments containing vitamins that are already registered in Italy do not require an import permit.
Private importers must provide a prescription from an Italian doctor stating the vitamins will be taken under the doctor's supervision. A delay in customs clearance may occur.A UPS surcharge may apply to include the additional consignee declaration and physician prescription and an import permit issued by the Ministry of Health at the custom's port of destination.