Peru Market Access

Import regulations and customs duties

Regulations
In Peru, the free exchange and free trade principles exist: there are no quantitative restrictions, licenses or exchange controls. The import of certain goods is prohibited on account of health or safety reasons. The import of farm products, fishing, or live animals is controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture. Veterinarian products, cosmetics and scents are required to be registered with the Ministry of Health. The import of raw materials, meant to be transformed into exportable products, is not taxed (Regime of Temporal Admittance).

There are 4 free trade zones: the zone of treatment of export (in Chimbote, Ilo, Matarini, Paita and Trujillo), the tourist zones, the special trade zones (with 10% customs duty) and the development zones.
Peru signed some bilateral trade agreements with Bolivia, Ecuador and the United States and some multilateral agreements with some organisations such as the ALADI.

Distribution

Although the population's debt is increasing, the goods and services demand is also increasing and the country resorts to imports.

The gap between the richest social class and the poorest one is very wide. Moreover, 50% of the population is considered as poor, and 20% as extremely poor. Commercial distribution is being totally reorganised. 60% of the sales are carried out by itinerant markets, street sales, etc. Organised distribution centres (supermarkets, stores, shopping arcades) are essentially found around Lima (Miraflores, San Isidro, Monterrico) or in the most important cities of the country. These distribution centres will be likely to develop in the near future.

Relationships between a foreign company and its agent, Peruvian distributor or representative are regulated by the Peruvian Trade and Civil Code. The parties freely establish the terms of the contract. An intermediary, through a local agent or distributor, is compulsory for sales to the State.

Transportation of goods

By road
The road network consists of 69,941 km of roads, of which 10% are tarred. The main roads are running along the coast for 2,800 km as well as along the Incas Road, which connects Lima to the inland country. Big projects for the road modernisation are in progress.

By rail
The rail network extends over 1,876 km, of which 1,576 km have a 1.435 m space between the rails and 300 km have 0.194 m. The network is in a bad state. The privatisation of the railway service is being planned. Railways are the main means of transport for ores. In 1994, 6.1 million tons of goods were transported through rail.

By sea
The port of Lima (Callao) is the most important port in Peru. Due to the free trade agreement with Bolivia, where there is no direct access to the sea, and due to industrial and commercial free zone, Ilo's port plays an important role. Peru has 8,600 km of navigable ways on the Amazon and 300 km on the Titicaca Lake.

By air
Jorge Chavez is the international airport of Lima. Air transport is the only way to reach inaccessible areas of the jungle or the fastest way to reach Andes populations.The secondary airports are Cuzco, Tacna, Arequipa, Iquitos, Ayacucho, Chiclao, Piura and Trujillo. Some small airlines offer regular flights between the various cities of the country. In 1994, 54 million tons of goods were transported by air traffic.\

Standards

The National Institute for the Defence of Competition and Intellectual property (INDECOPI), is responsible for enforcing technical standards and specifications of manufactured goods. The organisation in charge of the certification of products is the Governmental Institution CERPER.

Patents and brands

The Peruvian organisation responsible for the protection of intellectual property is the Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia y de la Proteccion de la Propriedad Intelectual (INDECOPI). Peru signed the agreement of Paris concerning the protection of industrial property and the agreement which establishes the World Intellectual property Organization (WIPO).