Maximum Coverage = Maximum Declared Value for Carriage for the Priority™ Worldwide service.

All items (documents or packets) should include the following information: Name of addressee, address (street and number), area, province, as well as telephone number.

Import Restrictions

Senders should determine import restrictions from Dominican Republic authorities before posting:

• animal products, skins
• coffee and coffee samples
• computer software, components and parts
• cotton, cotton seed
• drugs, prescription and non-prescription
• foodstuffs
• grain samples
• leather goods
• liquids, non-hazardous
• military equipment
• medicines
• perishables
• personal effects
• plants or parts of plants
• radar and radio equipment
• seeds
• ship spares
• soil samples
• tea
• telecommunications equipment
• tobacco
• weapons.

Discretionary import licenses continue to be required from the Secretariat of Agriculture for most agricultural products. These serve to limit imports of many items, which are perceived as competing with domestic production.

Registration requirements

"There are special restrictions and controls for live animals and unpacked foods as well as medicines and products designed to enter the health market. These special rules, however, are more in the area of registration and prior import license approval than in marking and labelling requirements.

Intellectual Property

The Dominican Republic is a signatory to most of the international treaties and conventions protecting copyrights and other intellectual property, including the Universal Copyright Convention, which was ratified in 1992 and grants reciprocal protection under its treaty obligations to eligible nationals and foreigners. Its own intellectual property law closely parallels existing legislation in other countries.

Ports of entry

There are restrictions on the entry of various goods through specific ports. This may be an obstacle for some methods of importing into certain cities. Some examples of restricted goods are:

Jewellery: only costume jewellery can be cleared through Santo Domingo

The following commodities are prohibited via Priority^TM Worldwide service into the Dominican Republic (However, you may be able to use another Canada Post service for shipping these items):

• seeds
• soil.

Gifts

Gifts up to $50 USD in value are able to clear customs duty and tax free with the exception of any electronic items.

Pension cheques and credit cards

Mail items containing pension cheques or credit cards must be sent by Registered Mail.

Prohibited Items

In addition to items considered non-mailable matter, the following are prohibited:

• asbestos
• cash
• communist propaganda
• gambling appliances
• glass articles
• jewellery, precious stones and metals
• immoral or obscene material
• ivory
• lottery tickets and advertising.
• live animals
• items containing staples
• obscene or immoral magazines.

Prohibited goods

There are no legal prohibitions to imports although discretionary import licenses continue to be required from the Secretariat of Agriculture for most agricultural products. These serve to limit imports of many items, which are perceived as competing with domestic production.

Documentation Required

Information regarding Customs can be found in "Customs Requirements" of the Canada Postal Guide.

Full documentation should be in Spanish or accompanied by a Spanish translation, and should include the following:

1. Commercial invoice

2. Insurance certificate

3. Certificate of origin

Document Requirements

Air waybill and Commercial Invoice

All shipments require an international air waybill and with limited exception, a commercial invoice. The value on the commercial invoice must be declared in $USD for all shipments.

TAX ID Number (RNC)

The importers tax id; Registro Nacional de Contribuyentes ( RNC), number must be listed on the documents for all shipments.

Import Licenses

Import licenses are not required for most products, except pharmaceutical products (drugs, cosmetics and skin care products) and agro-chemicals. For pharmaceutical products a license must be obtained at the Secretariat of State for Public Health for each trademark/product imported by the company. The license is valid for a period of five years. Agro-chemicals and fertilizers require an import license from the Secretariat of State for Agriculture.

Agriculture

"No objection" and other type of permits are often required to import agricultural commodities into the Dominican Republic. Phytosanitary certificates issued by recognized authorities in the country of origin must accompany live plants and agricultural material used in planting. Imports of animals normally require certificates of origin and other veterinarian documentation to assure disease-free-status. Testing is done at the port of entry to reconfirm pest free status. Tariff rate quotas were proposed for eight agricultural goods (rice, sugar, chicken parts, pork, corn, onions, milk powder and garlic). Imports of food and agricultural products are normally facilitated through local distributors.

Phytosanitary Certificates

Phytosanitary certificates issued by recognized authorities in the country of origin must accompany live plants and agricultural material used in planting. Phytosanitary certificates for exporting are issued by the Secretaria de Estado de Salud Publica y Assist. Soc.

Certificates of Origin

Certificates of Origin are required for certain commodities under preferential trade agreements, for example; CARICOM trade preferences. They are also, required for the importing of animals and some animal products.

Veterinarian documentation

Animal and Animal products in most cases require veterinary certificates and other sanitary documents providing proof of pest free status. These commodities are also highly subject to delays in clearance processing due to possible testing at ports of entry.