Food supplements for Argentina: RNPA registration and import

Short answer

Can a supplement made in the EU be sold in Argentina?

Yes, as a suplemento dietario under article 1381 of the Código Alimentario Argentino. On the registration route, an Argentine importer with an RNE number registers each product with SENASA and receives an RNPA number, and every shipment is then admitted lot by lot. ANMAT’s FAQ on Decree 35/2025 also describes, for products covered by the Código Alimentario from an Annex III country, the European Union among them, entry on a sworn declaration (declaración jurada) filed through TAD with a certificate of free sale no older than one year, without a mandatory RNPA; whether that route covers dietary supplements after Decree 697/2026, the importer confirms with SENASA or its customs broker. Pharma Manufacture manufactures the product in Latvia from 150 units and supplies the documents.

Argentina regulates supplements as food. Article 1381 dates from 2008 and was replaced by Joint Resolution 3/2020 (Boletín Oficial, 29 December 2020), which widened the category and set criteria for assessing herbs and other non-nutrient ingredients. Until Decree 697/2026, signed on 31 July 2026, these files went to ANMAT and its food institute INAL, and advertising followed ANMAT Disposition 4980/2005. The decree moved the registration, control and import authorisation of supplements to SENASA, the national agri-food health and quality service; the ANMAT pages cited below describe the former procedure.

Decree 35/2025 (Boletín Oficial, 20 January 2025; in force since 21 January 2025, according to CIRA’s summary) added an Annex III listing Australia, Canada, Switzerland, the European Union, the United States, New Zealand, Israel, Japan and the United Kingdom. According to ANMAT’s FAQ, a product covered by the Código Alimentario with a certificate of free sale from one of these countries, issued no more than one year earlier, is imported on a sworn declaration filed through TAD; the RNPA number on the label is not mandatory, and a company that wants an RNE and RNPA can still obtain them voluntarily. The FAQ does not name dietary supplements expressly; whether the route covers a given product after Decree 697/2026, the importer confirms with SENASA or its customs broker.

Before the first order. Since August 2026 supplements are handled by SENASA (Decree 697/2026), and ANMAT’s FAQ does not mention that change. The importer confirms the current route, and which certificate of free sale is accepted for a product made in Latvia, with SENASA or with its customs broker (despachante).

Registration and import

RNE and RNPA: requirements to import dietary supplements

On the registration route, each lot is admitted against the RNPA file. The batch paperwork has to match that file line for line.

In practice that means the same product name, the same formula and the same batch number on the Certificate of Analysis, the invoice and the pack. A mismatch found at the border may stop that lot, however good the product inside it is.

Steps

Steps to your first shipment to Argentina

1. The importer obtains its RNE number from SENASA for its warehouse (Argentine importer; 30 working days in SENASA’s tariff table).
2. You choose a ready-made formula or send your own; Pharma Manufacture returns formula options, a price and the qualitative and quantitative formula for the file (you and Pharma Manufacture; first reply within 24 hours).
3. The importer chooses the route: an RNPA for each product with SENASA (Argentine importer; the RNPA takes 30 working days per product in the tariff table) or, if SENASA confirms it covers the supplement, the sworn declaration through TAD with a certificate of free sale no older than one year that ANMAT’s FAQ describes for products from the EU and the other Annex III countries (Decree 35/2025).
4. Pharma Manufacture makes the batch and packs it with the Spanish artwork you and the importer approved (from 4 weeks, about 8 weeks for a typical run; it can run alongside steps 1 and 3).
5. For each lot the importer files an import notice (aviso de importación) with SENASA, and the batch number on the Certificate of Analysis, the invoice and the pack matches the sworn declaration or the RNPA file (Argentine importer, batch documents from Pharma Manufacture; 2 working days in the tariff table).

The durations are the ones SENASA lists in its tariff table, checked 30 October 2026; the table does not say how they relate to the legal deadlines.

What you pay. In Argentina the importer pays SENASA: ARS 424,950 for the RNE, ARS 303,450 for each RNPA if it takes the registration route, an import notice of 1.25 % or 1.5 % of the FOB value per product and ARS 77,400 to bring in a sample without commercial value. Import duty depends on the tariff code. The Pharma Manufacture quote covers the product under your brand, made to the agreed formula and volume; help with the label artwork is part of the service, and every batch leaves with a Certificate of Analysis. Prices are sent on request.

Demand

What is known about the Argentine supplement market

No official figures (ANMAT, INDEC) or industry chamber data on supplement sales in Argentina were found on 30 October 2026.

Shipping

Shipping supplements from Latvia to Argentina

Goods leave Mārupe, 2 minutes from Riga Airport and close to the Free Port of Riga, by air or by sea, as the buyer’s forwarder decides. The Argentine importer holds the RNE and receives the lot decision from SENASA, so it is the importer of record. On that basis the fitting Incoterms are FCA, with handover to the buyer’s forwarder in Latvia, or DAP to the agreed place in Argentina, with clearance and duties on the buyer.

Production takes from 4 weeks, about 8 for a typical run once the order and specification are confirmed.

From the factory

Private label supplements: what an Argentine importer receives

• Tablets, capsules, softgels, effervescent tablets, powder sachets, liquids or sports powders under your brand, from 350 ready-made formulas or a formula developed for you.
• The qualitative and quantitative formula for the RNPA file.
• A Certificate of Analysis with every batch, matching the batch number on the invoice and the pack. Each batch sample is kept for at least three years.
• Copies of the GMP-FS-01, HACCP-01 and ISO 22000:2018 MSC-22-1384 certificates, scope tablets, capsules and powders.
• Help with the label artwork, which is part of the service; the Spanish text is agreed with the importer.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about exporting supplements to Argentina

What is a food supplement called in Argentina?

A suplemento dietario. It is a food under article 1381 of the Código Alimentario Argentino, regulated since Decree 697/2026 by SENASA, and the label has to state clearly that the product is a suplemento dietario.

Can supplements be imported into Argentina?

Yes. On the registration route, an Argentine importer with an RNE number registers each product with SENASA and obtains an RNPA, 30 working days per product in SENASA’s tariff table; after that, each shipment is admitted lot by lot. For products covered by the Código Alimentario from the EU, which is listed in Annex III of Decree 35/2025, ANMAT’s FAQ also describes entry on a sworn declaration through TAD with a certificate of free sale no older than one year; whether that route covers a dietary supplement, the importer confirms with SENASA or its customs broker. The Mercosur exemption does not cover a supplement made in the EU.

Does a supplement made in the EU need an RNPA?

Possibly not, but for a supplement this is not confirmed. According to ANMAT’s FAQ on Decree 35/2025, a product covered by the Código Alimentario with a certificate of free sale from an Annex III country, such as the European Union, issued no more than one year earlier, is imported on a sworn declaration filed through TAD, and the RNPA number on the label is not mandatory; the FAQ does not name dietary supplements expressly. RNPA registration remains available on a voluntary basis: ARS 303,450 and 30 working days per product in SENASA’s tariff table. Since August 2026 supplements are handled by SENASA (Decree 697/2026), so the importer confirms with SENASA or its customs broker whether the route covers its product and which certificate of free sale is accepted.

Who registers an imported supplement in Argentina?

The Argentine importer, if it takes the registration route. It first needs an RNE number for import and export, then registers each product with SENASA and receives an RNPA number. Pharma Manufacture supplies the formula and the batch documents that the importer files.

What are the RNE and RNPA requirements?

The RNE is the importing establishment’s number, ARS 424,950 and 30 working days in SENASA’s tariff table, and is needed before the product registration starts. The RNPA, ARS 303,450 and 30 working days, is requested from SENASA for each imported product packed for retail sale that takes the registration route; for a product from an Annex III country, such as the EU, ANMAT’s FAQ describes it as voluntary, and for a supplement the importer confirms this with SENASA. It is filed with the qualitative and quantitative formula Pharma Manufacture supplies and the other documents on SENASA’s current list.

Does Mercosur mutual recognition help a product made in Latvia?

No. The exemption from the RNPA procedure under Resolution 876/97 and Disposition 5434/98 applies to products from Mercosur member countries. A supplement made in the EU does not use it: it goes through the full RNPA registration or, if SENASA confirms the route covers the product, by the Decree 35/2025 route, whose Annex III includes the European Union.

Is every shipment to Argentina inspected?

Every shipment is admitted lot by lot: the importer files an import notice with SENASA for each product, 2 working days in SENASA’s tariff table. Under the former ANMAT procedure a lot was released on documents or after sample analysis, and batch documents that match the RNPA file keep this step short.

Can herbal ingredients go into a supplement for Argentina?

Yes, within the rules. Joint Resolution 3/2020 rewrote article 1381 and added criteria for assessing herbs and other ingredients that are not nutrients, so such an ingredient is assessed against those criteria; on the registration route, within the RNPA file.

What is the minimum order for a supplement for Argentina?

Pharma Manufacture starts at 150 units for a ready-made formula in tablets or capsules. Powder sachets start at 80,000 because of the laminate print run, and a custom formula has a higher minimum. If the importer takes the registration route, each extra SKU means one more RNPA, because the RNPA is issued per product.

How long does an order for Argentina take?

From 4 weeks, and about 8 weeks for a typical run from confirmed order and specification to despatch. If RNPA registration is chosen (30 working days in SENASA’s tariff table), it and lot admission run in Argentina and are planned by the importer alongside production.

Does the EU-Mercosur agreement apply to Argentina?

Argentina notified the EU that it had completed ratification, and on 23 March 2026 the Commission announced that the interim trade agreement would apply provisionally from 1 May 2026. The duty preference for a supplement depends on its tariff code and is checked in the Commission’s Access2Markets tool.