Food supplements for Paraguay: DINAVISA registration and import

Short answer

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

Yes, as a suplemento dietario registered with DINAVISA, the national health surveillance authority. A company in Paraguay, normally the importer, holds the registration; the importer needs an opening authorisation and brings each batch in through customs with an invoice showing lot and expiry and the manufacturer’s Certificate of Analysis. Pharma Manufacture manufactures in Latvia from 150 units and supplies the documents.

DINAVISA’s Department of Nutritional Products works under Resolución DINAVISA 234 of 10 September 2024, on obtaining and renewing the Constancia de Inscripción Sanitaria for supplements, and Resolución DINAVISA 286/2023 on advertising. Its page still lists Decreto 3586/15, which Resolución 234 names as repealed by Decreto 2479/2024.

Registration and import

DINAVISA registration and import into Paraguay at a glance

In Paraguay the invoice is a regulatory document: DINAVISA reads the lot number and expiry date from it.

DINAVISA publishes health alerts on supplements sold without registration and declares them illegal to import, distribute and sell. An unregistered batch has no lawful route through customs.

Steps

Steps to your first shipment to Paraguay

1. The importer holds a DINAVISA opening authorisation (habilitación) and a responsable técnico (Paraguayan importer; in place before the file).
2. You choose a ready-made formula or send your own; Pharma Manufacture returns formula options, a price, the formula with quantities, the nutrition information and dosage, a copy of GMP-FS-01 and the Certificate of Analysis of the finished product (you and Pharma Manufacture; first reply within 24 hours).
3. Pharma Manufacture makes the product for the Certificate of Analysis the file requires (from 4 weeks, about 8 weeks for a typical run).
4. The certificate of free sale is issued in Latvia and apostilled, and the foreign documents are translated into Spanish by a sworn translator (issued in Latvia; translation on the Paraguayan side).
5. The importer pays the arancel and files the registration in DINAVISA’s system (Paraguayan importer; 15 working days for a supplement of vitamins and minerals only, otherwise 60 working days, with the clock stopped while DINAVISA waits for data).
6. For each batch the importer files an import application with the commercial invoice showing lot and expiry, the packing list, the transport documents and the Certificate of Analysis, and the goods enter through customs (importer and broker).

Terms from Resolución DINAVISA 234 of 10 September 2024 and instruction INS-DGV-008, checked 30 October 2026. The registration lasts 5 years.

In Latvia, certificates of free sale are issued to exporters by the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LTRK), in Latvian and English, on a written application; LTRK lists the fee as EUR 50 + VAT for members and EUR 100 + VAT for non-members. An apostille on a Latvian public document is issued by any sworn notary for EUR 30, or EUR 50 within two hours, and only as an e-apostille.

What you pay. The importer pays DINAVISA the arancel before filing: under article 41 of Resolución 234 it is 50 jornales for registering an imported product and 50 for renewal; the jornal is a Paraguayan daily-wage unit, and its value in guaraníes is confirmed with DINAVISA. In Latvia the certificate of free sale costs EUR 50 + VAT or EUR 100 + VAT at LTRK and an apostille EUR 30 at a sworn notary; the sworn translation is priced by the translator. 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 supplement demand in Paraguay

No source on supplement demand in Paraguay, official or secondary, was found on 30 October 2026.

Shipping

Shipping supplements from Latvia to landlocked Paraguay

Paraguay has no sea coast, so cargo travels by sea to a port in a neighbouring country and continues overland, or flies in; either way it enters through Paraguayan customs. The route is the importer’s choice. Because the importer clears the goods under its own DINAVISA authorisation, the fitting terms are FCA, with handover to the buyer’s forwarder in Latvia, or DAP to the agreed place.

The factory in Mārupe is 2 minutes from Riga Airport and close to the Free Port of Riga. Production takes from 4 weeks, about 8 weeks for a typical run once order and specification are confirmed.

From the factory

What a Paraguayan importer receives from Pharma Manufacture

• Your brand on tablets, hard capsules, softgels, effervescent tablets, powder sachets, liquids or sports powders, from 350 ready-made formulas or a custom formula.
• The formula with quantities, the nutrition information and the dosage for the DINAVISA file.
• A Certificate of Analysis for every batch, as INS-DGV-008 requires at import. Batch samples are kept for at least three years.
• Copies of GMP-FS-01, HACCP-01 and ISO 22000:2018 MSC-22-1384, scope tablets, capsules and powders.
• Help with the label artwork as part of the service.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about exporting supplements to Paraguay

Who regulates food supplements in Paraguay?

DINAVISA, the Dirección Nacional de Vigilancia Sanitaria, through its Department of Nutritional Products. It registers suplementos dietarios under Resolución 234 of 2024, in 15 or 60 working days and for 5 years, and controls their advertising under Resolución 286/2023.

What does DINAVISA need to register a supplement?

The qualitative and quantitative formula, nutrition information, purpose and use, dosage and the label artwork. For an ingredient that no supplement registered in Paraguay contains yet, DINAVISA also asks for technical literature or a monograph, and it may request further data.

Who holds the DINAVISA registration, and what does Pharma Manufacture supply?

A company in Paraguay, normally the importer that also holds the opening authorisation. Pharma Manufacture supplies the formula, the technical data and the Certificate of Analysis for each batch.

What are the requirements to import supplements into Paraguay?

Under DINAVISA instruction INS-DGV-008, in force since 13 June 2025: the importer’s opening authorisation, the product registration, a commercial invoice with lot number and expiry date, transport documents, a packing list and the manufacturer’s Certificate of Analysis.

Do the documents for Paraguay have to be in Spanish?

Yes. DINAVISA asks for the documents of an imported product in Spanish, translated by a sworn translator, and an invoice in another language has to be translated. Pharma Manufacture works in English and Russian; the importer arranges the Spanish versions.

Does Paraguay require a certificate of free sale?

Yes. Resolución DINAVISA 234 of 2024 lists a certificate of export or free sale in the registration file, together with the manufacturer’s GMP certificate, and foreign documents carry an apostille and a sworn translation. In Latvia certificates of free sale are issued by the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LTRK), EUR 50 + VAT for members and EUR 100 + VAT for others.

Is Paraguay covered by the EU-Mercosur agreement?

Not confirmed. On 23 March 2026 the European Commission wrote that Paraguay had recently ratified and that its notification was expected, while the agreement started on 1 May 2026 for Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. No official start date for Paraguay was found by 30 October 2026.

What is the minimum order for a supplement for Paraguay?

Pharma Manufacture starts at 150 units for a ready-made formula in tablets or capsules. Powder sachets start at 80,000, set by the laminate print run, and a formula developed from scratch has a higher minimum.

How long does an order for Paraguay take?

From 4 weeks from order to despatch, about 8 weeks for a typical run. Transit through a neighbouring port and the DINAVISA import step come on top and are planned by the importer.