Import restrictions for Italy 🇮🇹

Updated: July 2026

Customs rules can change. Before sending a parcel or travelling, check the current requirements on the customs authority's website. This material is for reference only and is not legal advice.

General information

These rules are useful both for people carrying items across the border themselves and for those sending a parcel with a fellow traveller. When entering from outside the EU, the value of goods in your baggage may not exceed EUR 300 (by land) or EUR 430 (by sea or air). For persons under 15, the limit is EUR 150. If the limit is exceeded, the goods must be declared (forms are available at border crossing points).

✅ Allowed with restrictions

💰 Cash

You may bring in any amount, but for amounts over EUR 10,000 you must fill out a customs declaration.

Cash includes not only banknotes and coins, but also cheques, promissory notes, shares, as well as precious stones and metals. Jewellery is not counted.

🍷 Tobacco and alcohol

From EU countries, persons aged 17 and over may import duty-free, as a guide:

• 1 kg of tobacco;
• 400 cigarillos (each up to 3 g);
• 200 cigars;
• 800 cigarettes (from Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Hungary — 300 cigarettes);
• 110 L of beer;
• 90 L of wine (up to 60 L sparkling);
• 10 L of spirits;
• 20 L of low-alcohol drinks (other than beer and wine).

When entering from non-EU countries, you may import duty-free:

• 250 g of tobacco;
• 100 cigarillos;
• 50 cigars;
• 200 cigarettes;
• 16 L of beer;
• 4 L of still wine;
• 2 L of low-alcohol drinks (up to 22%) or 1 L of spirits (over 22%).

Alcohol and tobacco allowances are not cumulative: you cannot import 200 cigarettes and 100 cigarillos at the same time, but 50 cigarillos and 100 cigarettes are allowed.

🍕 Food

Ready-to-eat vegetables, as well as bread, biscuits, chocolate and other finished products without meat or dairy additives, may be imported duty-free.

Packaged animal products (other than milk and meat) — up to 2 kg: baby food, powdered milk, pet food, honey.

From EU countries, meat and milk may be imported up to 10 kg (from other countries these products may not be imported).

For personal use, you may import up to 20 kg of fish products (a single fish weighing more than 20 kg is allowed whole). The limit for caviar is stricter — up to 125 g per person.

💊 Medicines

Medicines that do not contain narcotic components may be imported duty-free. If their quantity exceeds a 30-day supply, it is worth taking a copy of the prescription from your doctor, issued in the name of the person carrying the medicine. For products with narcotic or psychotropic substances, medical confirmation is required (within the Schengen area — the relevant certificate).

🐶 Pets

You may import dogs, cats and ferrets without veterinary control. For birds, rodents and other animals, veterinary control at the border is required (the list of border crossing points with a veterinarian is given in the Traveller's Customs Charter).

Only animals older than 3 months may be imported (no more than 5 per person). Each must have a health certificate, a veterinary passport with a rabies vaccination record and a microchip. For a pet from a third country not on the EU's list of rabies-controlled countries, a rabies antibody test is additionally required (it is not needed for the USA, Canada, Japan and a number of other countries — it depends on the country of departure).

🌸 Plants

The import of potato and some other nightshades into Italy is prohibited. To import most plants, a permit (phytosanitary certificate) is required.

❌ Prohibited without special permits:

• cultural property more than 50 years old;
• weapons;
• drugs;
• pornographic material, etc.

This service provides information for reference purposes only, is not a customs authority, and does not guarantee its completeness or accuracy. Responsibility for complying with customs rules and for the contents of the goods being moved lies with the person importing or exporting them. Before moving goods, check the current requirements in official sources.

Sources:

Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM)

Traveller's Customs Charter