Between 2025 and 2026 ANMAT replaced its licences, registrations and import authorisations for cosmetics and cleaning products with sworn declarations. Here is the new regime step by step, the reference-country route, labelling, the taxes and the Paraguayan angle.
Cosmetics, perfumes, personal hygiene products and household cleaning products (domisanitarios) are regulated in Argentina by ANMAT, the national medicines, food and medical technology agency. Until 2025 the importer needed an establishment licence after inspection, a registered product and an import authorisation for each shipment. Between June 2025 and February 2026 ANMAT replaced all three with sworn declarations and checks after the fact.
The result is one of the more open regimes in the region for products already sold in the US, the EU, the UK and other reference countries. What has not changed is the need for an Argentine importer with a technical director, Spanish labelling to Argentine and Mercosur rules, and the general import tax stack explained in our Argentina customs guide. There is no national excise on cosmetics or cleaning products.
Cosmetics and toiletries fall mainly in HS chapter 33 (perfumes, make-up, skin and hair care, oral hygiene) and household products in chapter 34 (soaps, detergents, polishes) and chapter 38 (disinfectants and insecticides). They pay the Mercosur common external tariff; finished consumer products sit in the upper half of the scale and their inputs lower. Typical extrazone rates:
| Product (NCM) | Extrazone duty |
|---|---|
| Perfumes and toilet waters (3303) | 18% |
| Lip and face make-up, powders (3304.10, 3304.91) | 18% |
| Creams and other skin care (3304.99) | 18–25% by line |
| Shampoo (3305.10) | 18% |
| Toilet soap (3401.11) | 18% |
| Retail detergents and cleaning preparations (3402.20) | 18% |
Check your exact NCM line with your broker; skin-care products in 3304.99 have more than one line.
Statistics fee
3% of customs value, capped by value band; Mercosur origin exempt.
VAT
21%, plus an additional 20% VAT prepayment.
Other prepayments
Income tax 6% and provincial turnover tax around 2.5%, credited later.
Excise
None: since the 2026 reform the national excise law (impuestos internos) covers tobacco, alcoholic drinks, beer and non-alcoholic drinks, not cosmetics or cleaning products.
| Shampoo, CIF US$100,000 | Non-Mercosur origin (duty 18%) | Mercosur origin |
|---|---|---|
| Import duty | 18,000 | 0 |
| Statistics fee 3% | 3,000 | 0 (exempt) |
| VAT 21% | 25,410 | 21,000 |
| Additional VAT prepayment 20% | 24,200 | 20,000 |
| Income tax prepayment 6% | 7,260 | 6,000 |
| Turnover tax prepayment 2.5% | 3,025 | 2,500 |
| Total paid at clearance | 80,895 (81% of CIF) | 49,500 (50% of CIF) |
| Of which pure cost | 21,000 | 0 |
With no excise, the pure cost for a registered importer of a finished cosmetic from outside Mercosur is the duty and statistics fee, 21% of CIF; the rest is recoverable. The method is the one used in our Argentina customs guide.
Law and practice: Mercosur common external tariff, applied rates reported by Argentina (WTO/World Bank TRAINS); Law 24,674 (impuestos internos), as amended by Law 27,802 (2026); Decree 1140/2024 (statistics fee).
| Step | Rule since 2025–2026 | Norm |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The company | Establishment licence (habilitación) obtained by filing a sworn declaration on ANMAT’s platform; activity authorised on filing, inspected later | Disposición 7939/2025 |
| 2. The product | Registration by prior notification (sworn declaration); no local testing if sold in a reference country, with a free-sale certificate up to 24 months old | Decree 892/2025; Disposición 236/2026 |
| 3. Each shipment | No ANMAT import authorisation; an import notice (aviso de importación) filed on TAD within 48 hours after customs clearance | Disposición 4033/2025 |
| 4. On the market | Post-market surveillance; importer collects and assesses product experience data | Laws 16,463 and 18,284 |
All three dispositions cover cosmetics and perfumes, personal hygiene products, oral hygiene products for dental use, disposable external hygiene products, intravaginal hygiene products and domisanitarios; Disposición 236/2026 also covers low-risk medical devices. The licensing reform of Disposición 7939/2025 excludes higher-risk household products — domisanitarios classified as Risk II, Group B under Resolution 709/98 — whose establishments keep the traditional procedure.
Law and practice: ANMAT Disposiciones 4033/2025 (Boletín Oficial, 10 June 2025), 7939/2025 (27 October 2025) and 236/2026 (6 February 2026); Decree 892/2025; Ministry of Health Resolution 709/98 (domisanitarios risk classes).
Only companies licensed by ANMAT may import and sell these products. Since Disposición 7939/2025 took effect, the licence is obtained by filing a sworn declaration through ANMAT’s digital platform, which authorises the activity at the declared premises immediately and has no expiry date. ANMAT verifies and inspects afterwards.
Declaration content
Company and legal representative, premises and activities, floor plan, municipal licence, proof of tenure, and any outsourced quality control.
Technical director
A qualified professional who signs the declaration with the legal representative and must live within 100 km of the premises.
Good manufacturing practices
Cosmetics and oral hygiene follow Disposición 6477/12; domisanitarios Disposición 6391/15.
Existing companies
Had to re-file under the new system within 180 business days of entry into force, free of charge; changes must be notified within 30 days.
For a foreign brand this is the decisive point: the licence, the technical director and the product notifications belong to the Argentine importer. Either choose a distributor that already holds them, or set up a local company and contract a technical director — see our company guide.
Law and practice: ANMAT Disposición 7939/2025, arts. 2–10 and Annex I.
| Product situation | Route |
|---|---|
| Sold in Australia, the US, Israel, Japan, the UK, an EU or EFTA state | Notification with the origin free-sale certificate; exempt from local tests |
| Not sold in a reference country, but tested | Notification supported by certificates or test reports from recognised certifiers or labs accredited by the Organismo Argentino de Acreditación (OAA) |
| Neither | Ordinary registration under the technical requirements for the product category |
Disposición 236/2026, issued under Decree 892/2025, turned product registration into a prior notification by sworn declaration. Products must still meet Argentine definitions, formulation rules (permitted and restricted ingredients, which follow Mercosur’s harmonised lists), labelling and quality requirements. The reference-country route is the fast one: a free-sale certificate from the origin country’s health authority, no more than 24 months old, replaces local testing.
Mercosur’s harmonised cosmetics rules divide products into grade 1 (basic products with no particular claims) and grade 2 (products with specific indications, or whose claims need proof of safety or efficacy, such as sunscreens, children’s products, hair dyes and antiperspirants). The grade determines the supporting data a technical director should hold for each product.
Law and practice: ANMAT Disposición 236/2026, arts. 1–5; Decree 892/2025, Annex I.
Since July 2025 ANMAT no longer issues import authorisations for these products when the importer is a licensed establishment and the goods are for sale or free distribution. Instead, the importer files an import notice (aviso de importación), a sworn declaration on the TAD platform, within 48 hours after customs clearance. The same exclusion from prior authorisation covers trade-fair samples, laboratory samples, donations and raw materials for the industry.
Customs clearance itself follows the ordinary procedure with a broker: ARCA importer registration, declaration, selectivity channel, and payment of duty, statistics fee, VAT and prepayments.
Law and practice: ANMAT Disposición 4033/2025.
Language
All mandatory information in Spanish.
Cosmetics
Product name and function, ingredients by INCI name, net content, country of origin, importer’s name and address, lot, expiry where relevant, precautions and directions for use.
Domisanitarios
Use, active ingredient and concentration, warnings and first-aid information, and the risk category.
Claims
Claims must match the product grade; therapeutic claims turn a cosmetic into a medicine.
With registration reduced to a notification, label errors tend to surface in market inspections or consumer complaints, with sanctions under the medicines and health laws. Have the label reviewed by the technical director before printing.
Law and practice: Mercosur harmonised cosmetics labelling rules as adopted by ANMAT; Laws 16,463 and 18,284 (sanctions).
Cosmetics and cleaning products made in Paraguay and meeting Mercosur origin rules enter Argentina with 0% duty and no statistics fee; VAT and prepayments apply. On the regulatory side, Paraguay is not among the reference countries of Decree 892/2025, so a Paraguayan free-sale certificate from DINAVISA, Paraguay’s health products regulator, does not by itself exempt the product from local testing. Trade is still small: by Paraguay’s figures reported to UN Comtrade, it exported about US$2.9 million of soaps and cleaning preparations (HS 34) and US$0.7 million of cosmetics and perfumery (HS 33) to Argentina in 2025.
Testing route
Test reports or certificates from OAA-accredited labs or recognised certifiers support the notification.
Harmonised rules
Mercosur’s common cosmetics lists mean a product compliant in Paraguay usually needs few formula changes.
Importer
An ANMAT-licensed Argentine importer with a technical director is still required.
Origin
Mercosur certificate of origin; up to 60% non-Mercosur content allowed until 2038 under Paraguay’s special regime.
Law and practice: Decree 892/2025, Annex I; CMC Decision 06/23.
Cosmetic, hygiene product or domisanitario; grade or risk class; NCM line.
ANMAT licence by sworn declaration, technical director, ARCA importer register.
Reference-country certificate, accredited tests, or ordinary registration.
Argentine and Mercosur ingredient lists and limits.
Spanish, INCI ingredients, importer, lot, warnings.
Aviso de importación on TAD within 48 hours of clearance.
Marval: ANMAT Disposición 4033/2025 · ANMAT Disposición 7939/2025 · Beccar Varela: Disposición 236/2026 · Allende & Brea: ANMAT import simplification · Law 24,674 (impuestos internos) · Ámbito: excise after the 2026 reform · World Bank WITS: Argentina applied tariff data · Arancely: cosmetics lines · UN Comtrade: Paraguay exports to Argentina
No. Since Disposición 4033/2025, licensed importers file an import notice on TAD within 48 hours after customs clearance.
By prior notification through a sworn declaration under Disposición 236/2026. Products sold in a reference country need no local tests if the importer has a free-sale certificate up to 24 months old.
Australia, the US, Israel, Japan, the UK, EU member states and EFTA states, listed in Annex I of Decree 892/2025.
Yes. Domisanitarios are covered by the import-notice and product-notification reforms; for establishment licensing, higher-risk products classified as Risk II, Group B keep the traditional procedure.
No. Cosmetics and cleaning products pay duty, statistics fee, VAT and the prepayments only.
18% on most perfume, make-up, hair-care, soap and detergent lines from outside Mercosur, up to 25% on some skin-care lines; 0% with Mercosur origin.
Yes. The establishment declaration is signed by the legal representative and a technical director living within 100 km of the premises.
No. Paraguay is not on the list, so the notification relies on accredited test reports or ordinary registration; Mercosur origin still gives 0% duty.
Statistics fee, VAT and three prepayments; FX payment.
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador compared.
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