Import documentation (should be in Spanish or accompanied by a Spanish translation) should include the following: transportation document (air waybill or bill of lading), commercial invoice, packing list, and insurance certificate.
Pharmaceutical products (such as skin care products, cosmetics and drugs), all agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, agricultural commodities, livestock are require special import licences.
Note: As for imports into free trade zones, those do not require import licences or customs duties.
Tariffs and Import Taxes
The Dominican Republic uses the Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) for commodity classification. Taxes and duties for imported goods are computed on the ad valorem price (i.e. the CIF price in US dollars multiplied by the unified foreign exchange rate). All duties and taxes are raised in Dominican pesos. Except for products subject to exemptions provided by law, there are several taxes on imports:
1) Tariff (Arancel): the basic import tax, which ranges from 0% to 30%. Dominican tariffs are bound by the WTO standards for all goods, with the exception of the following eight agricultural goods for which tariff rate quotas have been established: rice, sugar, chicken parts, pork, corn, onions, milk powder and garlic.
2) Customs Service Fee (Tasa de Servicio Aduanero): A fee of 0.4% of the CIF value of the merchandise.
3) Luxury Tax (Impuesto Selectivo al Consumo): the consumption tax for luxury imports or "non-essential" goods that ranges between 15% and 80%. This tax is calculated on the CIF price. Luxury goods include, among others, perfume, whiskey, motor vehicles and tobacco.
4) Industrialized Goods and Services Tax (ITBIS - Impuesto de Transferencia a los Bienes Industrializados y Servicios): This is a 16% tax on processed food products and all non-food products, and services. ITBIS is computed on the CIF price plus the amount paid for all taxes and duties previously mentioned.
Beef and chicken are prohibited to import. On May 2003 the Dominican authorities banned the import of Canadian beef due to the BSE case found in Alberta. Moreover, imports of chicken (processed or unprocessed) from the province of British Columbia are also banned. Processed chicken importing from the other areas do not have any problem entering the country.
Labeling Requirements
Dominican Republic is officially committed to ISO 9000 standards and usually follows North American labeling standards. Medicines and health products, live animals and non-packaged foods require special labeling regulations. The office in charge of regulations on marking and labeling, DIGENOR (Direccion General de Normas y Sistemas de Calidad), will provide specific details on labeling requirements for products entering the country. | 
