cuba customs regulated items enter in cuba objects regulated for tourists what bring to cuba

General Information

Travel From USA

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Custom Regulations

	Prohibited Items
	Regulated Items

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Cuba Transportation

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Celular Ring Tones

Regulated Items !!

--	Vehicles
--	Weapons and explosives
--	Medicines, Biological products, etc.
--	Patrimonial objects
--	Cigars

Casa Albertina

Budget Accommodation
in Vedado, Havana

VEHICLES REGULATIONS

Travellers arriving in Cuba as tourists are entitled to temporarily import one light motor vehicle for a period of up to thirty (30) days, extendable for another thirty days upon request.
Temporary admission transactions shall be performed at the Customs house through which the traveller arrives into the country.
Customs could establish a security amount to be deposited as a requirement for authorizing the temporary admission.
The tourist shall be in the obligation of re-exporting the vehicle on his departure of the country or on termination of the authorized period.

Applicable to temporary residents

Temporary Residents means persons which have been authorized to reside in Cuba for a period longer than six (6) months but not reaching the category of permanent.

Import of vehicles for the use of branches of foreign trading societies credited in Cuba and their representing executives shall be authorized by the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba.
Import of vehicles for the use of foreign banks credited in Cuba and their representing executives shall be authorized by the Central Bank of Cuba.
Import of vehicles for the use of travel agencies and their representing executives shall be authorized by the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba.
Import of vehicles for use in joint-venture enterprises and international economic associations shall be authorized by the Ministry for the Foreign Trade.
Import of vehicles for use of free-zone operators shall be authorized by the Ministry for Foreign Investment and Co-operation.
In every case vehicles shall have to have been built within a period not longer than four (4) years and import shall have a definite character involving payment of Customs duties equivalent to a 100% of their Customs value.

mport of vehicles by Diplomatic and Consular Missions, as well as by foreign press credited in Cuba, shall be governed by special prescriptions and authorizations ar to be granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

WEAPONS AND EXPLOSIVES

Import of fire-weapons and ammunitions is prohibited - independently of their caliber - without an express authorization issued by the Public Safety Direction of the Ministry of the Interior.
Import of explosives and dangerous chemicals is prohibited.

In the case of tourists arriving for the purpose of participating in sport hunting or shooting competitions and for that purpose intend to import weapons and/or ammunition, shall apply to the competent authorities for the relevant permits in advance to their arrival and produce these authorizations during the entry Customs control procedure.

In all cases when the required permit cannot be produced at the moment of entering the country then the fire-weapons and/or ammunition shall be retained for a period of thirty (30) days, and extendable for another thirty (30) days. Should the said period have elapsed without having removed the weapons and/or ammunition from the retention premises they shall be declared legally abandoned.

MEDICINES, BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS, ETC

All travelers may import, with relief from the payment of Customs duties, up to ten (10) kilos of medicines as long as they are maintained in their original packings.
Import and export of hallucinogenic or psychotropic substances is only permitted in small quantities for personal use.
Import and export of narcotic drugs and stupefacients is prohibitted.

Blood-derived substances, biological products (vaccines, anti-serums, micro-organisms stocks, culture mediums, etc) , except when imported for scientific or research purposes, which shall be fully authorized by the Ministry of Public Health.

Nationally produced medicines not registered with the Medicine Registry of the Ministry of Public Health.
Medicines limited for in-hospital use, except for cases of continuous external treatment duly documented and authorized by a Hospital authority.
Medicines produced and pattented in Cuba and the use of which - because of their therapeutic usefulness - has been spread beyond national boundarie, except for cases when acquisition in an authorized sales center is certified through presentation of the relevant purchase invoice.

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PATRIMONIAL OBJECTS

Regulations applicable on arrival
Works of art and objects of national heritage shall be declared on entering the country when intending to subsequently re-export them.

Regulations applicable on departure
For travellers having previously imported works of art and other museum-valuable objects it shall only be possible to proceed to their re-exportation by presenting - at the moment of departure - the document issued by the Customs when the objects were temporarily imported.

Without prior authorization issued by the National Registry of Cultural Objects it shall be prohibited to export parts or entire objects considered to be part of the nation's cultural heritage or having museum - value.

Export of works of art and crafts not having museum-value shall be authorized by the National Registry of Cultural Objects.

ANIMAL, PLANTS, PETS AND PRODUCTS RELATED

Except for those animals the import and export of which is regulated under the C.I.T.E.S. Convention, travellers can import or export any affective or domestic animal of their property while complying with the regulations issued by the frontier veterinary authorities regarding the vaccination certificates and other internationally required documents.

Species of flora and fauna endangered with extinction

Presentation of the relevant C.I.T.E.S. permit to Customs authorities shall be required for the import and/or export of specimens (living or dead, as well as their parts or derivatives) or species (maritime, fluvial, lacustrine or terrestrial) endangered with extinction and protected under the Convenion for the International Trade of Endangered Wild Flora and Fauna Species (CITES).

Among these protected species there are the parrots, the cocodriles and the turtles.

Food products of animal and vegetable origin shall be industrially processed and vacuum-sealed. The rest of animal and vegetable origin items shall be subject to inspection by veterinary and phitosanitary authorities in frontiers.

ELECTRICAL HOME APPLIANCES

Except for those items expressly prohibited, travelers may import any electrical home appliance in as long as their value - altogether with the rest of the items being imported - does not exceed the allowable amount of two hundred and fifty (250.00) Pesos.

Import of electrical home appliances as part of tourists's personal belongings is regulated by specific prescriptions ruling control for that category of travellers.

CURRENCY AND VALUES

Regulations applicable on arrival

It is allowed to import up to one hundred (100.00) Pesos in Cuban national currency.
It is allowed to import up to two hundred (200.00) Pesos of the instrument of payment designated Convertible Peso;
All travellers may import - without limit - any amount of freely convertible currency in cash, bankers orders, cheques, drafts or other means of payment. However, in the case of Non-Residents in the country, should the import exceed the amount of five thousand dollars (US$ 5000.00) and under the intention of subsequently exporting a higher amount than the said five thousand dollars, the traveler should lodge a Declaration of Values at the Customs Office of the point of entry in order to justify the amount intended to export on departure;
All travellers may import - without limit - any amount of precious metals and stones items. However, in the case of Non-Residents in the country, should the overall value of the imported items exceeds five thousand dollars (US$ 5000.00) and under the intention of subsequently exporting a higher amount than the said five thousand dollars, the traveler should lodge a Declaration of Valuables at the Customs Office of the point of entry in order to justify the value intended to export on departure.

Regulations applicable on departure

It is prohibited to export an amount of more than one hundred (100.00) Cuban pesos in national currency.
It is prohibited to export an amount of more than two hundred (200.00) Pesos in the instrument of payment designated Convertible Peso.
In the case of travellers Non-Residing in the country, it shall be permited to export an amount of up to five thousand pesos (US$ 5000.00) in convertible currency and in other measns of payment. In order to export a higher amount than the said five thousand dollars, on departure the traveller shall credit that the amount intended to be exported had been previously imported on arrival, and to this end shall produce the Declaration of Valuables certified by the Customs Office of the point of entry or to produce a bank document certifying that the amount has been legitimately acquired.
In the case of travellers Non-Residing in the country, it shall be permited to export precious metals and stones items valued for an amount of up to five thousand (US$ 5000.00) pesos. In order to export an amount exceeding the afore mentioned five thousand pesos it shall be credited that the items have been legitimately acquired.

COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENTS

Travellers shall require express authorization from the Ministry of Communications in order for them to import the following equipment and means of communication:

Radio transmission equipment and transceivers;
Facsimile terminals;
Telephone switchboards and equipment;
Telegraph and telex central boards and equipment;
Professional Radio and TV receivers differing from household models;
Geo-positioning equipment (GPS );
Satellite receiver antennas and stations;
Satellite communications ground stations.

In cases when any of the above listed items should be part of a traveller's personal luggage - whether accompanied or not - and at the time of clearance the said authorization should not be available, the items shall be retained at the Customs of entry for a period of thirty (30) days, and extendable on express request for another thirty (30) days. Should the said period have elapsed without having produced the relevant authorization the items shall be declared legally abandoned.

CIGARS

It shall be possible to to export an amount of up to 23 (twenty three) units of rolled cigars, in individual units, without producing any relevant purchase document.
If you exceed that amount, you will be obliged to claim the official purchace receipt and a copy of it at the shop, and hand a copy in at the Customs Office at the exit point where you'll be leaving with the cigars, wich must be contained in the original cases with all official seals, incluiding the new holographic seal

Any failure to abide by the basic requirement of a legal purchase, the product will be seized by Cuba's Customs Office

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