Thread: Importing your household crap to Panama

This week all my shit has arrived. Got an email from the local shipping company informing our household stuff has arrived.
Went in to the shipping company (praise the Lord for GPS maps) paid $238 for local charges, two doors down were introduced to a broker. Turns out if you have no status only looking to settle you have to pay duties on all the shit you import.
The broker wanted to save me money and himself the hassle of having to declare every last used underwear suggested to talk to a lawyer and get a paper declaring our imminent purchase of a property in excess of $300k which enabled me to import all our shit and pay exactly $2 duties.
Lawyer's fee $125, broker's fee $150, trucking all my crap to our place $150.

how much shit, from where and how much.

Too much stress, should have got rid of it all in the USA and started again.

Some shit is personal, some high value, my books (a lot of it) can't replace. Shipped from Miami.

didnt sound as stressful as u would expect actually. and not as expensive either. well done!

I'm surprised they accepted the letter.

Hi,
Does anyone know if I can ship to Panama:
kitchen spices and herbs in bottles
spaghetti and other uncooked pasta
small house batteries
vinegars
sugar and flour
canned goods like soup, tuna fish, etc.
condiments like mustard, mayo, etc.
vitamins
I have checked the web and the restrictions are a bit vague. I know I cannot ship cigarettes, alcohol, and prescriptions
Can anyone help as I was told if there is something prohibited in the shipment, they will delay the shipment and fine me.
Thank you very much.
Kathy

might be better to contact a broker , as most of us just guess at answers , you need to know the true answer

I highly recommend Mario. He was most helpful and very reasonable taking care of everything.

Licdo. Mario E. Patino H
Agente Corredor de Aduanas
Tel: 260-1009
Cell: 6680-8181
aduanayservicios@hotmail.com
mariopat349@hotmail.com

He does not speak English though.

Originally Posted by kfmellis

Hi,
Does anyone know if I can ship to Panama:
kitchen spices and herbs in bottles
spaghetti and other uncooked pasta
small house batteries
vinegars
sugar and flour
canned goods like soup, tuna fish, etc.
condiments like mustard, mayo, etc.
vitamins
I have checked the web and the restrictions are a bit vague. I know I cannot ship cigarettes, alcohol, and prescriptions
Can anyone help as I was told if there is something prohibited in the shipment, they will delay the shipment and fine me.
Thank you very much.
Kathy

Kathy, your list is quite complete except that you forgot toilet paper.

I shipped a few bottles of spices that I didn't want to discard in my container along with everything else. My Panama shipper told me it was food and I couldn't do it. I packed it with some other stuff and it was never inspected. If you have a decent sized container, Pana customs will generally look through some of the stuff near the front but are too lazy to go all the way to the back. So if you want to bring contraband, pack in the back. Why you would want to bring sugar and flour escapes me. The humidity and bugs will destroy it before you get it. You need to eat your food before you come here. I'm assuming you are talking about seaborne shipping.

Originally Posted by kfmellis

Hi,
Does anyone know if I can ship to Panama:
kitchen spices and herbs in bottles
spaghetti and other uncooked pasta
small house batteries
vinegars
sugar and flour
canned goods like soup, tuna fish, etc.
condiments like mustard, mayo, etc.
vitamins
I have checked the web and the restrictions are a bit vague. I know I cannot ship cigarettes, alcohol, and prescriptions
Can anyone help as I was told if there is something prohibited in the shipment, they will delay the shipment and fine me.
Thank you very much.
Kathy

Kathy,
Why would you want to ship all those food items. You can buy it all here in Panama.

There are more and more retail items available in Panama. Food too. The staples are covered.

If I were shipping food I would bring in a variety of flour, rice, and a range of grains. The selection of those things are almost none. White rice, flavorless brown rice, limited wheat flour, and almost no other grains.

5 years ago I searched for a simple tea kettle. Couldn't find a one. Now I see stores with shelves filled with tea kettles.