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Trade barriers (tariffs, non tariff barriers
and import taxes)
 Traditional
policies on trade and economic incentives directed agricultural and manufacturing
production toward import-substitution until the end of the 1980's. Today,
Panama's, nominal tariff duties are the lowest in the region. Panama averages
9% in tariffs rates.
The country has also made significant progress in eliminating
quantitative restrictions. From 1991 to 1996, the Government of Panama enacted
a trade liberalization program, with the following initial objectives
- To reduce the ceiling on import tariffs to 40 percent
for industrial products and 50 percent for agro-industrial products.
- To eliminate all specific import tariff rates
- To eliminate quantitative, import restrictions for agricultural
products and replace them with tariff quota protection.
The Government accomplished these objectives and went further
by setting an import tariff ceiling of 15%, effective on January 1, 1998.
Some exemptions exist for agricultural products and a few other products such
as automobiles.
Panama is a full member of the World Trade Organization,
(WTO). However, our import duty structure is significantly lower than the
one negotiated for WTO accession.
Custom Valuation
Panama assesses import duties on an “ad valorem”
basis. The ad valorem system uses the declared C.I.F. value as the basis for
import duty calculations and in some cases utilizes historical price information
as a reference.
 In
addition to the duty, all imports into Panama are subject to a 5 percent transfer
or value tax (ITBM) levied on the C.I.F. value, plus import duty, and other
handling charges. Pharmaceutical, foods and school supplies are exempt from
the ITBM tax.
In 1995, Panama changed it international trade classification
system from the Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature (CCCN) and Brussels
Tariff Nomenclature (BTN) to the Harmonized System (HS)
Import Licenses
 No
import licenses are required in Panama. Any company holding a commercial license
can freely import goods into Panama. A commercial or industrial license is
required by individuals or companies engaged in commercial or industrial activities.
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