Romania Humanitarian Customs Regulations

This document was submitted in response to a questionnaire distributed by Global Hand regarding humanitarian customs information. It provides regulations for importing humanitarian aid into Romania.

Required Documents

  • signature from Regionala Vamala for the recipient
  • full details of consignee
  • customs (Vama) import licence
  • ministry of Health (Catre Vama) approval for medical, cleaning and food products (e.g. vegetable oil, tea, salt, etc.)
  • No information available about other documents.

Prohibited Goods

  • The following goods are not permitted entry into Romania as humanitarian aid:
  • meat and products containing meat
  • dairy and products containing milk
  • flour
  • food with shelf-life of less than 6 months
  • second-hand refrigerators or freezers
  • used toys for children under 3 (eg cuddly toys).
  • used clothes for children under 3 (eg baby clothes.)
  • used underwear.
  • used shoes.
  • coffee.
  • used car tyres. For more information on prohibited goods see the Vidotrans-HTG website: http://www.htgtransport.nl/Nieuws%20en.htm

Tax Exemption

According to provisions of Art. 5-letter a) of G.O. 26/1993 subsequently amended, the import operation of the following goods is exempt of the payment of customs duties: aid and donations with social, humanitarian, religious sport, didactic character received by the organisations, foundations or non-benefit associations with humanitarian or cultural character, ministries and other bodies of the central and local public administration, unions and political parties, religious organisations, federations, sport clubs or associations, state and private school units or institutions, medical and sanitary units, provided that they are not meant or used for activities which may constitute threads to the national security. The following goods are excluded from the provisions of this paragraph: alcohol and alcoholic-products, tobacco and tobacco-products, coffee, and motor vehicles other than ambulances (provision established by the G.U.O. no. 127/10.09.1999, G.U.O. no. 1/01.02.2000 , G.U.O. no. 188/6.11.2000). As of June 24 2002 the Romanian authorities no longer charge VAT on the import of relief goods in Romania.

PreShipment Application

The receiver of relief goods should possess a form for the Regionala Vamala before Customs clearance. They have to approve loading lists with signature from their department head before the shipping agent may make a declaration prior to‘normal’Customs clearance.

Restrictions

  • The following restrictions apply for goods imported as humanitarian aid (Please also refer to section 2 above):
  • for shoes, an invoice is required to prove that the shoes are new.
  • agricultural tools must not have a motor
  • new refrigerators or freezers must not have’CFK’
  • used clothes must be purified, in good condition, with the trademark label and
  • washing instructions, packed in boxes or perforated plastic bags (NO waste bags) and
  • all gas machinery (cookers, heaters etc), electrical heating equipment and
  • hoisting equipment and compressors, must obtain an ISCIR-license, the application for which requires the original booklets with technical data. These items must have an import-license from the Ministry of Health (Catre Vama):
  • ’normal’medicines, multivitamins, analgesics and bandages
  • cleaning products
  • ’innocent’food, such as lettuce-oil, pasta, vegetable oil, tea and salt. On the packaging, the perishable date should be clearly stated. Perishable dates should also be stated on the package lists and
  • serious medicines and high-grade medical equipment. Usually only hospitals and other medical institutions receive these licenses. These items must have an import-license from the Ministry of Agriculture: potatoes (consumption and seed), rice, sowing seed and dehydrated milk, if accompanied with a NAK-quality-certificate, a phyto-sanitarian certificate and a lists of varieties with declarations of resistance from the PD (Botany Institution of the Netherlands).

Other Info

See related links.

Source:

Sections 1-2, 3b, 4-5 - HTG-Vidotrans relief transports; Section 3a - from the Romanian embassy in Berne.

Categorisations

Regions / countries / territories

Europe: Romania