importing to argentina

[jml]

Hi, am looking for some advice please from folks who have already set up a business here importing products from offshore to be sold here.

I am looking to import a 'vitamin' type product to be sold at drug stores but not containing any actual drugs. Its not exactly that, but close enough for now. Sorry, need to be a bit vague about the product, but lets just assume that I have done my market research and found that there is a market for the product here. So really what I want to focus on are what the barriers to entry are going to be to import and distribute/ sell this product in Argentina.

I am just exploring at this point if it would even be a possibility. What are the major challenges? I have heard of very high import taxes. Will the government even allow this if I don't have a DNI and am not a local or resident here? Will I get hit with really high import taxes? Will my product be stuck for ages in customs? Will I have any chance of doing this with only my basic spanish or do I need a local business partner / lawyer here to even get started? Have others found that it is just better to remake the product locally rather than importing?

Any advice from people's past experiences would be much appreciated.

 

[citygirl]

I have no direct experience on importing but Argentina is protectionist and their tariffs on imports are quite high. If you can do it locally, I certainly would think it would be easier.

You can't set up a company here without being a resident. Let me clarify that - someone would need to be a resident so if you are setting up a company, you would need a partner who does have residency. Getting by on basic Spanish would be next to impossible - someone needs to be fluent.

Corporate taxes are 35% just as an FYI.

 

[SaraSara]

Perhaps a good place to start would be the Commercial Attache at the embassy of the country producing your vitamins. (Awful English, I know, but can't think of any other way to put it)

Anyway, commercial attaches are supposed to help people with import/export matters. Sadly, some of them don't, and prefer to spend their days loafing and their nights partying.

 

[steveinbsas]

Hi, am looking for some advice please from folks who have already set up a business here importing products from offshore to be sold here.

I am looking to import a 'vitamin' type product to be sold at drug stores but not containing any actual drugs. Its not exactly that, but close enough for now. Sorry, need to be a bit vague about the product, but lets just assume that I have done my market research and found that there is a market for the product here. So really what I want to focus on are what the barriers to entry are going to be to import and distribute/ sell this product in Argentina.

I am just exploring at this point if it would even be a possibility. What are the major challenges? I have heard of very high import taxes. Will the government even allow this if I don't have a DNI and am not a local or resident here? Will I get hit with really high import taxes? Will my product be stuck for ages in customs? Will I have any chance of doing this with only my basic spanish or do I need a local business partner / lawyer here to even get started? Have others found that it is just better to remake the product locally rather than importing?

Any advice from people's past experiences would be much appreciated.

It probably isn't worth the effort unless you can compete with Herbalife.

 

[katti]

Selling something in Argentina is not easy. Not price or product is the most important but knowing people. They would rather buy from someone they know or someone recomended to them then someone they don't know even if the price is good. In general they don't like to buy from someone not speaking Spanish.

It is true that to start a company you need a "local" as a partner.

This is the experience my husband has, although he does not sell 'vitamins' but raw materials to factories. Maybe that is different. They have put a lot of energy in Argentine market but it only moves slowly. But it moves....

I wish you succes!