Uganda customs regulations

Duty-free allowance

Tobacco limit

• Restricted to travellers 18 years and over;
• 250 grams total of any tobacco products.

Bringing alcohol

Restricted to travellers 18 years and over. One of the following:

• 1 litre of spirits;
• or 2 litres of wine.

Other Goods

• Perfume and eau de toilette up to 500mL, of which 125mL may be perfume.
• Goods for personal use which will leave the country with the traveller.
• Travellers who have been outside Uganda for a period exceeding 25 hours may bring in personal goods worth up to US$500.

Prohibited items

The following are goods which cannot be brought into the country:

• Counterfeit currency and goods.
• Pornographic and obscene media.
• Matches manufactured with white phosphorus.
• Any article made without proper authority which bears the Armorial Ensign or Coat of Arms of a partner state.
• Distilled beverages containing essential oils or chemical products which are injurious to health.
• Narcotic drugs under international control.
• Hazardous wastes and their disposal.
• Any product containing mercury.
• Used tyres for light commercial vehicles and passenger cars.
• Some agricultural and industrial chemicals.

Restricted items

These goods are strictly regulated, and in most cases require a permit to be obtained prior to arrival.

• Unprocessed foods require clearance from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries.
• Plants and their derivative products require clearance from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries.
• Animals, including pets, are subject to certain import requirements. For further information, please visit the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries.
• Postal franking machines require a permit granted by a competent authority.
• Traps capable of killing or capturing game animals require a written permit.
• Unwrought precious metals and precious stones.
• Arms and ammunition specified under Chapter 93 of the Customs Nomenclature.
• Ossein and bones treated with acid.
• Other bones and horn - cores unworked, defatted, simply prepared, and waste of these products.
• Ivory, elephant unworked or simply prepared but not cut to shape.
• Teeth, hippopotamus, unworked or simply prepared but not cut to shape.
• Other ivory unworked or simply prepared but cut to shape.
• Ivory powder and waste.
• Tortoise shell, whalebone and whalebone hair, horns antlers, hooves, nails, claws and beaks, unworked or simply prepared but not cut to shape, powder and waste of these products.
• Coral and similar materials, unworked or simply prepared but not otherwise worked shells of molasses, crustaceans or echinoderms and cattle-bone, unworked or simply prepared but not cut to shape powder and waste thereof.
• Natural sponges of animal origin.
• Spent, irradiated fuel elements of nuclear reactors.
• Worked ivory and articles of ivory.
• Ozone depleting substances.
• Genetically modified products.
• Non-indigenous species of fish or egg of progeny.
• Psychotropic drugs under international control.
• Historical artefacts.
• Telescope sights or other optical devices suitable for use with arms.
• Bows, arrows, fencing foils, or toys under Chapter 95 of the Customs Nomenclature.
• Collectors' pieces or antiques guns and ammunition.
• Endangered animals, plants, and their derivative products protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) may require protected species permits.