Paraguay Member profile
Status of notification in the reporting periods
2010-2012
2012-2014
2014-2016
2016-2018
2018-2020
2020-2022
2022-2024
2024-2026
Notification information
Types of restrictions
All biennial periods and all notifications
Top 10 HS chapters notified
All biennial periods and all notifications
Top 10 WTO justifications notified
All biennial periods and all notifications
Top 10 Non-WTO commitments notified
All biennial periods and all notifications
QR details
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Trade policy review
Latest Trade Policy Review (Report by the WTO Secretariat): WT/TPR/S/360/Rev.1
A. Import prohibitions and restrictions and import licensing
3.57.
Pursuant to Law No. 1.095/84, Paraguay bans the import of articles that might affect national security, public order, public health, animal or plant health, morals or decency (Table 3.12). This Law also empowers the Executive to ban imports temporarily in order to protect and promote Paraguay's economic and social development, maintain the trade and payments balances, or counteract unfair competition from foreign products.[102]
3.58.
An authorization or prior licence (the two terms are synonymous), which may be automatic or non‑automatic, is required for the import of a number of products (Table 3.13). Products that are subject to sanitary, phytosanitary, animal health, environmental, security or other types of control require prior authorization from the competent government authority. A prior licence is also required for the import of various types of product such as sugar, mate, wheat flour, cement, petroleum‑based products, beef, poultry meat and offal, hygiene and toiletry products, and live animals (birds, cattle, swine). In some cases, import licences are required for the purposes of statistical monitoring, as is the case for made‑up articles and footwear. The authorities have indicated that import licences for these two types of product are automatic, as is the case for the majority of products subject to prior licensing.
3.59.
During the period under review, new prior import licensing requirements were introduced for the following products: footwear; washed and centrifuged salt; articles of wire, rods and bars, iron rods, towers and lattice masts; articles of iron and steel (NCM 7306.30.00 and 7306.61.00); cement; cellular telephones, parts therefor and motherboards; plastic and biodegradable bags; and incandescent and fluorescent lamps. On the other hand, the prior licensing requirement for importing soya beans (Resolution No. 1.583/13) was abolished. Some of these measures have been notified to the WTO, together with the domestic legislation on import licensing.[103]
3.60.
MIC Resolution No. 103/09 requires that applications for prior import licences be accompanied by an authenticated copy of the commercial invoice for the export of the product to Paraguay. In normal cases, the procedure for obtaining a prior import licence at the MIC takes around ten days, but for products necessitating a health, sanitary or other type of certificate from a government authority, it may last for up to one month. In general, licences are valid for 30 working days as of the date of issue, which may be extended in certain cases.
B. Export prohibitions and restrictions
3.83.
Paraguay bans or restricts the export of certain products, generally in order to protect the environment or public health or to comply with its commitments under international agreements such as the Basel Convention and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). For example, the export of wild animals is banned without express authorization from the Environment Secretariat, as are traffic, marketing and preparation of dangerous drugs and narcotics (Table 3.15).
3.84.
In some cases, the reason for the restrictions concerns the promotion of domestic industry or efforts to increase value added or ensure domestic supplies of raw materials. For example, it is prohibited to export wood of any species in the rough or semi‑processed, or sawn wood of the species Cedrela spp. (cedar), Tabebuia spp. (lapacho), Myrocarpus spp. (incense) and Cordia trichotoma (petereby), including planed wood, unless it has been treated in kilns and shaped on all four surfaces. Furthermore, Law No. 515/94 bans the export of or international traffic in round wood, wood blocks and beams of any species, quantity, weight or volume. As far as Petit Grain essential oil is concerned, the legislation requires that part of domestic production be processed and only allows export of up to 60% of unprocessed production. This restriction is applied through export licences issued by the MIC.
3.85.
Since 2003, a prior licence from the MIC has been required to export aluminium, copper and bronze waste and, since 2008, articles of iron and steel, in addition to the requirement to be listed in the corresponding exporters' registers (section 3.2.1 above). In both cases, the aim is to guarantee the supply of raw materials for domestic industry. Export licences are processed online through the VUE.
3.86.
A phytosanitary export licence issued by SENAVE is required to export plant products and by‑products if their nature or preparation entails a potential risk of introducing regulated diseases pursuant to ISPM No. 12 and Law No. 123/91. Agricultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) require an export certificate issued by SENAVE through the VUE. The export of pharmaceuticals requires a sanitary certificate issued by the MSPBS.
WTO's environmental database (EDB)
The EDB contains environment-related measures that may qualify as QRs and therefore should be notified under the QR Decision.