What you Can and Cannot Bring on your Luxury Peru Vacation

Congratulations! You’ve just booked your luxury Peru vacation! You have gone over the details with your Kuoda Travel Designer, and you are confident that this will truly be your dream trip to Peru: the trip of a lifetime! As you make arrangements to take this much-deserved time off from the daily grind, you find yourself faced with an enigma: what can and cannot be brought into Peru?

It would be a shame to have to face hefty tariffs, just because you innocently didn’t know that your goods would be evaluated and taxed. This guide is to help you avoid just that situation with a list of what can and cannot be brought with you on your Peru custom vacation. (Please note that the information provided is correct during time of publication.)

Items allowed into Peru must be in quantities for personal use or consumption only and include such goods as:

PERSONAL ITEMS (for personal use only):

• Toiletry
• Clothing and wearable gear
• Jewelry
• Books, magazines, newspapers, etc.

MEDICATION, SUPPLEMENTS, AND MEDICAL DEVICES

• Personal medications (narcotics may be restricted)
• Vitamins and supplements for your own use
• Medical devices and appliances, such as glucose monitors, crutches, or walkers, may be brought in as long as they are for the purpose of mobility and monitoring the health of the traveler.

Don’t bring medical marijuana or CBD-oil products.  Medical marijuana is legal in Peru, but the policies and procedures are not yet fully delineated, so no need for you to experiment by bringing cannabis products. If you absolutely must have that CBD oil for your aches and pains, such products may be found in Peru.

ELECTRIC AND ELECTRONIC DEVICES:

• 1 laptop computer
• 2 cellphones
• 1 tablet
• 2 cameras (conventional or digital) with up to 10 rolls of film, or 4 memory cards,
• 4 USB sticks and 2 external hard drives
• 1 video camera or camcorder (portable and not for professional use)
• 1 video game device (portable) including 10 games,
• 1 portable CD player
• 20 CDs or DVDs
• 1 portable calculator,
• 2 hairdryers /electric combing devices
• 1 Electric shaver
• You can bring drones into Peru but they MUST be declared.

If for some reason you need to bring items above the allowed limits, for example, if you need to bring two laptop computers, the rule states that the excess item must be declared to “aduanas” or customs and that the value of the second item must be lower than $500 in order to not be assessed.  If it does exceed $500 but is worth less than $1000, it should be declared and a 12% tax will be assessed. It is best to bring receipts if you have to declare items, as you may find yourself being taxed at very high rates if the customs officer looks up the items and assesses them on his or her own discretion.

FOOD THAT ARE ALLOWED INTO PERU:

Food items can be brought into Peru from the USA, Canada, or the European Union if they are in normal household quantities, labeled, unopened and commercially packaged or sealed. These items include:

• Cooked meats
• Processed cheeses
• Canned foods
• Pasteurized milk and dairy products
• Processed honey.

CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL:

• For travelers 18 or older, you are permitted to bring tobacco products up to 400 cigarettes, up to 50 cigars, or up to 250 grams of tobacco. You can also bring 3 liters of alcohol beverages. If the name “Pisco” is on the label and it is not from Peru, it is not allowed.

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS:

• 1 musical instrument (portable)
• 1 set of sports gear for personal use
• You can also bring up to US$500 in miscellaneous articles for personal use or for gifts.

BRINGING MONEY INTO PERU:

• Amounts less than $10,000 cash or monetary instruments, you do not have to be declared when entering Peru. However, it is prohibited to enter or exit the country with amounts in excess of US$30,000 or its equivalent in another currency.

The regulations I’ve mentioned here are geared towards tourists bringing items in their suitcases, which is not the same as shipping goods into Peru.

Lastly, please remember your baggage will be cleared at the first airport of entry in Peru. For most people, this will be in Lima.

Now that you have access to the information you will need to pack appropriately, you can rest easy, knowing what to expect from customs when you begin your luxury Peru vacation!