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1.2 Restricted and prohibited goods

Not everything a supplier sells can be imported into Peru. Learn to tell prohibited from restricted goods and to check permits before paying a deposit.

Module 1: Import strategy · Reviewed on 20/10/2026 · Español

Goal: Tell prohibited goods from restricted goods, identify the agency that controls a product and put in order the checks to make before paying an advance.

Paying the taxes is not enough for a good to enter the country. SUNAT separates two groups. A prohibited good is one that, by legal mandate, cannot enter the national territory. A restricted good can enter, but it needs prior approval from one or more State entities before it goes under a customs regime, which is the mode under which the good enters, for example import for consumption.

Which entity authorizes depends on the product. For example, SENASA controls plants, animals and agricultural products. DIGEMID controls medicines, medical devices and cosmetics. DIGESA controls processed food and beverages. The MTC controls telecommunications equipment. SUCAMEC controls weapons, ammunition and explosives. SUNAT publishes a table of entities that issue control documents, and many permits are processed through the VUCE, the Single Window for Foreign Trade (Ventanilla Única de Comercio Exterior) of MINCETUR.

For prohibited goods, SUNAT publishes a list by national subheading (the 10-digit code of each product), with the rule behind each prohibition. It includes, among others, used clothing and footwear (Law No. 28514), products with amphibole asbestos, shark and ray, and products with colistin. The list changes when a new rule is published, so do not copy it from memory: check it every time, and also verify whether the prohibition depends on the composition of the product.

Do this check before you pay the supplier. First, identify the product's national subheading. Second, look it up in the list of prohibited goods. Third, check the table of entities to see whether any sector controls it. Fourth, ask that entity, or your customs agent, which document it requires and when, because some permits must be ready before shipment. Fifth, add the cost and time of the procedure to your calculation.

If you import without meeting the requirement, the good does not get release (levante), which is the customs authorization to take it out. It may stay in the customs warehouse, generate storage costs and, if it is prohibited, be seized. Infractions are covered in module 3 of this course. The technical quality requirements for each product are studied in the course on Quality, Technical Requirements and Agro-exports.

Key ideas

Prohibited: it cannot enter by legal mandate. Restricted: it can enter only with prior approval from one or more entities.
The control entity depends on the product: SENASA, DIGEMID, DIGESA, MTC or SUCAMEC, among others.
Before you pay the supplier, look up the subheading in SUNAT's list of prohibited goods and in its table of entities.
Some prohibitions depend on the composition of the product or its condition (used, fresh, frozen).
Without the requirement, there is no release: the goods stay in the warehouse and generate costs, or they can be seized.

Entity	Type of goods it usually controls	Examples
SENASA	Plants, animals and agricultural products	Fresh fruit, seeds, poultry, animal feed
DIGEMID	Medicines, medical devices and cosmetics	Face creams, surgical masks, clinical thermometers
DIGESA	Processed food and beverages	Canned goods, snacks, packaged drinks
MTC	Telecommunications equipment	Routers, radios, equipment with a wireless transmitter
SUCAMEC	Weapons, ammunition, explosives and pyrotechnics	Fireworks, ammunition

Worked example

Nova Import checks three products before buying

Nova Import S.A.C., of Lima, receives three offers from a supplier: a face cream, a lot of used sports shoes and a wireless router. It wants to pay a deposit this week.
It asks its customs agent for the national subheading of each product and writes it down. Without that code it cannot search SUNAT's lists.
It looks up each subheading in the list of prohibited goods. Used footwear appears with Law No. 28514. Decision: it drops that lot; there is no point in negotiating or asking the supplier for exceptions.
It checks the table of entities for the other two. The cream is a cosmetic, which is controlled by DIGEMID. The router emits a wireless signal, so it consults the MTC. It confirms with each entity which document it requires and when.
It sorts out the calendar based on the answers: first the permit procedure, then the purchase order, and the deposit only once the requirement is under way. That way it does not end up with money paid and goods that cannot enter.
It adds the cost of the procedure and the weeks of waiting to the product calculation. If the permit takes longer than the selling season, it decides whether it still makes sense to go ahead with that product.

Result: Of three products, one was dropped for being prohibited and two went ahead with prior permits. The order that avoids losses is: classify, check the lists, ask the entity, process the permit, and only then pay.

Real cases

Products with colistin: prohibited based on their composition

2019

SUNAT's official list of prohibited import goods cites Directorial Resolution No. 0091-2019-MINAGRI-SENASA-DIAIA of SENASA under several subheadings, from prepared animal feed to pharmaceutical products. The prohibition covers only products that contain colistin (polymyxin E) and its salts as an active ingredient. It matters because a subheading can be allowed and a specific product can still be prohibited because of what it contains.

Ask the supplier for the full composition of the product and compare it with the legal basis in the list, not just with the name of the subheading.

Source: SUNAT – Lista de mercancía de importación prohibida (PDF)

Shark and ray: the prohibition covers fins, fillets and offal

2024

Multiple Official Letter No. 00039-2024-MINAM/VMDERN/DGDB of the Ministry of the Environment appears as the legal basis for more than twenty lines of SUNAT's prohibited import list. They cover shark and ray, live, fresh, frozen, smoked, dried or salted, with their fins, fillets, meat and offal. It matters because the prohibition is not limited to the whole animal: it includes almost any commercial presentation.

If you import food of animal origin, check all the presentations (fresh, frozen, dried, smoked) and not just the one you plan to buy.

Source: SUNAT – Lista de mercancía de importación prohibida (PDF)

Amphibole asbestos: also in brake parts

2014

SUNAT's list includes, based on Law No. 29662 and Supreme Decree No. 028-2014-SA, numerous subheadings with amphibole asbestos. They are not only fibers and sheets: they include amphibole asbestos brake linings and discs for motor vehicles, and paper, fabrics or gaskets made from those mixtures. It matters because an importer of spare parts could offer a prohibited product without knowing it.

If you import spare parts, construction materials or gaskets, ask for the technical data sheet and confirm that they contain no amphibole asbestos.

Source: SUNAT – Lista de mercancía de importación prohibida (PDF)

Common mistakes

Believing that if the supplier sells it, you can also import it here. Legality is set by Peruvian rules, not by the country of origin.
Paying the deposit before knowing which permits the product requires. Ask the entity first and only then close the purchase.
Confusing restricted with prohibited. A restricted good is imported with requirements; a prohibited one is not. Check which group your subheading falls into.
Relying on lists from blogs or from another importer. Use SUNAT's list and table of entities and the current sector rule.
Describing the goods under another name to avoid control. It can be a customs infraction or crime and is covered in module 3.

Practise with the calculators, the COMEX Simulator and the review questions on the main page.

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