Countries › Paraguay › Guide › 9. Trade and customs › Customs brokers, importer registration and other registered operators in Paraguay

Customs brokers, importer registration and other registered operators in Paraguay

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Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Stable

Every importer and exporter in Paraguay must be registered with customs, and almost every commercial shipment must go through a licensed individual customs broker who shares liability for fines. Transport agents, warehouse keepers, couriers and cargo agents also register and post guarantees, and breaches lead to warnings, suspension of up to a year or removal. Binding customs rulings are free, due in 30 business days and bind both sides for later operations.

USD figures use PYG 5,868.31 per US dollar, the Banco Central del Paraguay reference quotation in the planilla of 28 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Importer and exporter registration with customs	Required Ley 2422/2004 art. 18 num. 3, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Licensed customs broker mandatory	Yes, except baggage, small postal and courier shipments up to US$1,000 FOB and other listed cases Ley 2422/2004 art. 22 and 29, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Who can be a customs broker	Individuals who are Paraguayan or permanent residents with proven roots Ley 2422/2004 art. 20, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Deadline for a binding customs ruling	30 business daysLey 2422/2004 art. 49 num. 4, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Customs records retention	5 yearsLey 2422/2004 art. 51, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Maximum disciplinary suspension of a registered operator	12 monthsLey 2422/2004 art. 53, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Daily minimum wage (jornal) used for customs fines	117077 PYGRes. MTESS 670/2026, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
BCP reference rate used for conversions (28 Oct 2026)	5868.31 PYGBCP planilla de cotizaciones, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Importers and exporters must be registered. An importer is whoever brings goods into the customs territory in its own name and an exporter whoever sends goods abroad in its own name; both must be registered with customs under the regulations, with separate rules for occasional importers and exporters. Registration is suspended while the operator owes an enforceable customs tax or a final customs fine, or lacks legal capacity, and the operator is struck off for a customs infringement conviction (while the sanction lasts), bankruptcy or death.
Cost to do it: No registration fee is set in the Code; requirements come from DNIT regulations.Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 18 and 19, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. A licensed customs broker is mandatory. The importer, exporter or whoever has legal disposal of the goods must act in customs operations through a broker (despachante de aduanas) licensed by customs. Only individuals can be brokers: Paraguayan nationals or permanent residents with proven roots, secondary education, no overdue tax debts, a passed customs exam, good conduct and no conviction for smuggling, customs fraud or fraudulent bankruptcy. A broker must post the guarantee set by regulation, may act at every customs office in the country and answers for the acts of its employees.
Cost to do it: Broker fees are agreed privately; no official fee scale was found. For free zone users the Free Zone Law confirms fees are freely agreed (Ley 523 art. 50).Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 20, 21, 22, 26 and 27, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. Broker liability and mandate. When a customs fault or infringement is found in the broker's work, the broker is jointly liable with the declarant for fines and accessories, but is released if it proves it fulfilled its duties and acted on the documents the declarant gave it. The broker must prove its mandate to customs, cannot substitute the mandate or transfer the client's rights without express consent, and needs an express mandate to request tax refunds and a special power of attorney before a notary public to collect refund money on the client's behalf.
Cost to do it: Notarised special power of attorney needed only if the broker will collect refunds.Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 23, 24, 25 and 28, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. When a broker is optional. Using a broker is optional for traveller baggage, postal items without commercial value, immigrant, emigrant and returning resident shipments, relief consignments, simplified clearance up to the FOB value set by regulation, border trade under its regulations, and express courier shipments up to US$1,000 FOB, which the courier company can clear directly.
Example: A courier parcel of PYG 5,281,479 FOB can be cleared by the courier itself; at PYG 7,041,972 it needs a broker. / US$900 FOB courier parcel: no broker needed. US$1,200 FOB: broker required.Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 29 and 223 num. 2, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

5. Other registered operators. Transport agents (individuals who represent carriers before customs; every international carrier operating in Paraguay must have one) need a customs licence, an exam and a guarantee and are jointly liable with the carrier for collusion or gross negligence. Customs warehouse keepers must be established in Paraguay, connect their IT system online to customs, post a guarantee and are presumed liable, without proof to the contrary, for the customs tax on goods missing, damaged or destroyed in their custody unless force majeure is proved. Cargo agents, express courier companies, postal companies and ship suppliers must also register with customs.Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 31 to 41, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

6. Representatives and employees. Importers, exporters, warehouse keepers, cargo agents, courier and postal companies and ship suppliers may act through general attorneys (individuals only) and are presumed jointly liable for the customs offences their representatives commit. Employees authorised by customs may only perform procedural acts such as presenting documents and attending inspections, and their principals are jointly liable for their offences.Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 43, 44 and 45, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

7. Binding customs rulings. Anyone with a legitimate interest may ask the head of customs how customs law applies to a regime, treatment or operation, done or planned. Information is free unless the query causes special costs. The answer is binding on both sides for as long as the facts considered stay current, must be issued within 30 business days (extendable once for the same period for cause), applies only to later events, and can be appealed to the contentious administrative court within 10 days. A declaration filed while a query is pending must say so and is subject to the outcome.
Cost to do it: Free, except special costs the query causes to customs.Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 47 to 50, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

8. Record keeping. Everyone involved in customs operations must keep the documents for five years from 1 January of the year after the operation, and must supply documents and information customs requests.Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 51 and 52, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

9. Disciplinary sanctions. Registered operators that breach customs law face a warning (for breaches of formal duties), suspension from the register for up to one year, or removal. A new offence within two years of a warning or suspension counts as repeat offending, sanctions are entered in the operator's file, and a removed operator can apply to re register only after serving the sanction. The action to impose these sanctions prescribes after three years from 1 January of the year after the offence, interrupted by opening proceedings or a new offence.Ley Nº 2422/2004 Código Aduanero, Art. 53 to 59, 2004-07-30 official text · verified 2026-10-28

10. Who runs customs today. Ley 7143/2023 merged the tax office and the customs directorate into the Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios (DNIT); its Gerencia General de Aduanas applies customs law, collects import and export taxes and authorises, registers and controls the persons who take part in customs operations. Older laws that mention the Dirección Nacional de Aduanas are read as referring to the Gerencia General de Aduanas.Ley Nº 7143/2023 Que crea la Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios, Art. 1, 23 and 32, 2023-08-04 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: Since Ley 7143/2023 the former customs directorate is part of the DNIT; references to the Dirección Nacional de Aduanas mean its Gerencia General de Aduanas.

Operator	Who can be one	Guarantee	Liability	Norm
Importer or exporter	Individual or company acting in its own name	Per regulations, and for suspensive regimes	Accuracy of declarations and documents; strict liability for faults	Ley 2422 art. 18, 114, 317
Customs broker (despachante)	Individual: Paraguayan or permanent resident, licensed after exam	Yes, per regulations	Joint with declarant for fines, unless it relied in good faith on the client's documents	Ley 2422 art. 20 to 28
Transport agent	Individual licensed after exam	Yes, per regulations	Joint with carrier for collusion or gross negligence	Ley 2422 art. 31 to 35
Warehouse keeper	Person established in Paraguay, online IT link	Yes, per regulations	Presumed liable for tax on missing or damaged goods	Ley 2422 art. 36 to 39
Cargo agent, courier, postal company, ship supplier	Individual or company	As regulated	Suspension and removal grounds of the Code apply	Ley 2422 art. 40 to 42

Who must register with Paraguayan customs and what they answer for

Worked example

A foreign parent setting up a Paraguayan distributor registers the subsidiary with DNIT for tax, registers it as importer with customs, signs a written mandate with a licensed broker, and keeps all invoices and declarations for five years. If an invoice it supplied undervalues goods, the broker can escape the fine by showing it acted on the client's documents, and the subsidiary carries it alone.
Formal customs faults are fined 5 to 10 daily minimum wages (Code art. 321): with the jornal at PYG 117,077 from 1 July 2026 that is PYG 585,385 to PYG 1,170,770 (US$100 to US$200) per fault.

Step by step

1. Register the company with DNIT for tax and then as importer or exporter in the customs register (Code art. 18).
2. Select a licensed broker, check its registration is current, and give it a written mandate; add an express mandate and a notarised special power only if it will request or collect refunds (art. 24 and 28).
3. Agree in writing who bears fines caused by wrong documents, since the broker is jointly liable but can be released (art. 23).
4. For new products or regimes, file a ruling request and expect an answer within 30 business days (art. 49).
5. Keep documents for five years from 1 January of the following year (art. 51).

Common traps

The broker's joint liability is not a shield for the importer: a broker that relied on the client's documents is released, so a wrong invoice puts the whole fine on the importer (art. 23).
Owing an enforceable customs tax or a final customs fine suspends the importer's own registration until paid (art. 19), which stops all clearances.
Employees authorised before customs can only do procedural acts, and the company is jointly liable for their offences (art. 45).
A ruling only applies to events after it is notified and can be changed later for the future (art. 49), so it does not cure past declarations.
The DNIT online Customs Code PDF is the 2004 text; Ley 7143/2023 repealed several articles (2, 329, 330, 334, 335, 346, 347, 383 and others), so check amendments before relying on an article.

Sources

Related: Paraguay country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X · where Argentina is involved, see The Argentine Thread guide

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