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AFIP in English

Postal Service System and Courier Service System - Legislation in common

Depending on their origin, goods shipped through the postal service shall be included in the category of imports or exports. These categories, in time, shall determine the treatment they shall receive in accordance with the Postal Service System and the Courier Service System.

Although both systems have legislation in common, each one has its own characteristics that differentiate them.
Following, there is a description of their main characteristics.

	Postal system
	What does postal mail mean?
	Who are the users of the Postal Service System?
	Which operations does this system include?
	Imports through the postal service
		Postal Parcels for personal purposes
		Postal parcels for commercial purposes
		Door-to-door public mail postal services (EMS)
	Exports through the postal service
		Postal parcels for personal purposes
		Postal parcels for commercial purposes
		Books and/or magazines printed and edited in the country

	Postal Service Providers PSP / Couriers import export system
	Allowed items
	Mail / Documents
	Postal Parcels
	Courier import rules
	Exclusions
	Courier export rules
	Taxes and incentives
	Exclusions
	Historic backgroung

Postal service system

Customs Code (24633 Act) – Res. 2048/82 (ANA) – Res. 743/95 (ANA)

What does postal mail mean? In customs’ terms, postal mail are considered to be those "made through postal services in the country of origin and in the country of destination, as provided by international conventions ratified by the Nation and in accordance with the provisions contained in the regulations". (Customs Code (24633 Act), section 550) Who are the users of the Postal Service System? Any natural or artificial person who wants to send any item by post shall comply with the provisions stated by the Postal Service. Which operations does this system include? Goods’ imports and exports, with or without commercial purposes, can be performed through the postal service. (Customs Code (24633 Act), section 552) Goods with commercial purposes shipped through the postal service are subject to the general rules of the customs legislation regarding good’s imports and exports. (Customs Code (24633 Act), section 553) Occasional imports and exports of goods that can be presumed to be for the addressee’s or his/her family’s personal use or consumption due to number, quality, variety and value shall be considered imports and exports without commercial purposes. (Customs Code (24633 Act), section 554) Moreover, parcels called “postal parcels”, which weight shall not exceed twenty (20) kilograms, can be sent directly or across one or several countries. This provision of the Universal Postal Union is stated in section 2 of the “Postal Parcels Agreement (packages, baggage)”ratified by Argentina.     Imports through the postal service Imports through the postal service can be made through any of the following methods: Postal Parcels for personal purposes Postal parcels for commercial purposes Door-to-door public mail postal services (EMS)     Postal Parcels for personal purposes Exemptions     For postal parcels for personal purposes there are different exemptions: Up to U$S 25: Postal Parcels up to U$S 25 shall be duty free. This exemption applies once every calendar year per person. Between U$S 25 and U$S 999: These postal parcels shall pay a unique tax of 50% over the surplus. More than U$S 999: Postal Parcels over U$S 999 shall comply with the regulations on “Postal services for commercial purposes” and with the General Regime.     Postal parcels for personal purposes are not subject to economic prohibitions. (Customs Code (24633 Act), section 555) Customs Controls According to the content of the postal parcels, customs service shall request certain information to allow its entrance. Content Required documents Medicines Medical Certificate issued by a national health authority from the good's country of origin. Secondhand clothes Disinfection Certificate issued by the country of origin. If the postal parcel contains vegetables and/or food, the customs staff shall grant intervention to the pertinent office for the good’s verification. Postal parcels for commercial purposes Postal parcels for commercial purposes are subject to the general rules of the customs legislation regarding good’s imports. In the next page you will find information on essential requirements for Importers and Exporters. Door-to-door public mail postal service (EMS) (Res. ANA 743/95) Argentine public post office makes door-to-door postal deliveries that are sent to the destination address by an express service called "EMS", from "Express Mail Service". The EMS is the fastest service within the International Postal Services and is used for the delivery of documents and goods with priority delivery to the addressee and preferential conditions in the official post office in the country of destination. It is exclusively sent by air. These kinds of items are applied the same concepts and definitions than those of the import postal service, except for the pertinent exemptions that in this case are: Postal parcels up to U$S 25 shall be duty free. Postal parcels between U$S 25 and U$S 3000 shall pay a unique tax of 50% over the excess. Postal parcels over U$S 3000 shall comply with the regulations on “Postal Services for commercial purposes” and with the General Regime.     Exports through the postal service Postal service exports can be made in any of the following methods: Postal parcels for personal purposes Postal parcels for comercial purposes Books and/or magazines printed and edited in the country     Parcels sent under the Postal Service System do not allow the payment of exports incentives. Postal parcels for personal purposes Occasional imports and exports of goods that can be presumed to be for the addressee’s or his/her family’s personal use or consumption due to number, quality, variety and value shall be considered “postal parcels for personal purposes”. This kind of postal parcel can be sent once a month per person as long as its value does not exceed the equivalent to ten thousand American dollars (U$S 10,000). When there are, among others, secondhand clothes or promotional products with or without use, of national origin, the parcel shall be opened, verified and closed in the presence of the Customs Service that shall: In the case of secondhand clothes, verify the existence of disinfection certificate issued by the pertinent health authority; In the case of medicines, control that the pertinent authority has intervened to supervise public health at national level; Request parcels to be sent through door-to-door service to be in containers called “bags” made of transparent material to allow looking inside without opening the parcel and, eventually, in closed parcels in the case of mail grouped by commercial documents or business papers, excluding those that can be assumed to have commercial purposes.     Postal parcels for personal purposes are not subject to economic prohibitions. (Customs Code (24633 Act), section 555) Postal parcels for commercial purposes Parcels with commercial purposes are subject to the General Rules of customs legislation regarding good’s exports. In the next page you will find information on essential requirements for Importers and Exporters. Books and/or magazines printed and edited in the country Books and/or magazines’ subscriptions printed and edited in the country amounting up to two hundred (200) American dollars can be sent monthly, in parcels for personal purposes that do not exceed fifty (50) American dollars each. Moreover, free overseas postal delivery of books and magazines printed and edited in the country and written in Spanish is allowed if sent in parcels of no more than twenty (20) kilograms and containing no more than five (5) samples, in the case of complete works. The operation can be done from any Branch of the Post Office and it does not require customs and bank applications. Postal Service Providers PSP / Couriers import export system: 22415 Act – Resolution No. 2436/96 ANA – Resolution No. 3236/96 ANA – General Resolution No. 1811 AFIP – General Resolution No. 2021 AFIP Postal Service Providers PSP/Couriers perform the admission, classification, transport, distribution and delivery of mails, letters, postcards and parcels up to fifty (50) kilograms from or to overseas. This activity is regulated by the Postal Service Providers PSP/Couriers Imports Exports System, which main features are the following: Allowed items Postal Service Providers PSP/Couriers can transport: mail / documents     This category includes:   General mails   Templates   Lists   Computer-readable media with information from computer systems used in bank and business activities in general.   Other documents which are generally sent by this means       postal parcels   The Postal Service Provider PSP/Couriers Imports Exports System can transport parcels containing goods of no more than fifty (50) kilograms.     Courier Import rules Taxes   These parcels must pay all taxes applicable to Import General System, except VAT and Income Tax Payment on account. Exclusions   The following goods are excluded from the simplified import procedure: Those which FOB value surpasses one thousand (1000) American dollars, Those subject to customs identification, Those subject to the application of prohibitions or intervention from other Offices, Those subject to the submission of Certificate of Origin, Those benefited from special regimes regarding tax issues, even for the application of rates lower than 9%, 10% and 11%, in relation to Additional VAT and Income Tax Collection and prohibitions.     Treatment of excluded goods In the aforementioned cases, the destination request shall be made through Shippers’ Declaration by the Imports General Regime. Courier export rules All goods sent under the Postal Service Providers PSP/Couriers Import Export System are subject to the current provisions regarding prohibitions, restrictions, authorizations and intervention of other official bodies. Taxes and incentives Any delivery of goods under this regime (simplified destination or shipment allowance) is subject to the payment of export taxes. When the collection of Exports incentives is expected, an export destination document under the general regime shall be submitted (Shipment Allowance). Exclusions: The following goods are excluded from the simplified export procedures: Those which FOB value surpasses one thousand (1000) American dollars, Those subject to the application of prohibitions or intervention from other Offices, When the collection of Exports incentives is expected     Treatment of excluded goods In such cases, the destination request shall be submitted through Shipment Allowance. Likewise, in case the Customs’ value surpasses the limit of one thousand (1000) American dollars, having the pertinent procedure been applied as envisaged by Section 954, Subsection a) of the Customs Code, the operation shall be evidenced through Shipment Allowance. Historic background At the beginning, the State had the monopoly of the postal activity, supported by the legal framework of the 20.216 Act and its Regulation, and the 21.138 Act. Later on, the private sector’s participation in the market was allowed, a trend that continued until the postal activity was completely privatized (22.005 Act, Decree No. 1842/87, 23.696 Act). Likewise, in the year 1992 the Comisión Nacional de Correos y Telégrafos (National Commission of Post Offices and Telegraphs) was formed as the postal enforcement authority in charge of controlling the compliance with obligations undertaken by bidding enterprises. (Decree No. 214/92). Finally, in 1993 the state monopoly was abolished and it was provided that the domestic and foreign postal market was to be open and competitive, being the Registro Nacional de Prestadores de Servicios Postales (National Record of Postal Service Providers) –managed by the Comisión Nacional de Comunicaciones (National Commission of Communications) – created to perform this task. (Decree No. 1187/93).