Panama Customs is Going Digital

Panama Customs is saying goodbye to paper: travelers will be able to fill out the affidavit digitally.  This April, Customs began implementing a pilot plan for travelers arriving in Panama to digitally fill out the affidavit, after multiple complaints and suggestions for the institution to abandon the “obsolete” process of filling out the paper form.  At the Tocumen International Airport, for example, travelers arriving in the country can fill out this form digitally or on paper, with the help and guidance of officials.  In the terminal, they have placed instructions and the respective QR code for the user to download.  Customs reported that they have been meeting with representatives of the different airlines that provide the service at the airport to coordinate the “work schedule with a view to the implementation of the digital traveler affidavit.”  For the time being in the month of April, Customs will be developing training for the staff that take care of travelers in the terminal, as to the use of the digital application.  “During this period, a pilot plan will also be applied that will allow both staff and travelers to measure the effectiveness of this system, whose primary objective is to provide greater facilitation and improvements in the service provided by the Republic of Panama during entry into the country.”  Each traveler arriving in Panama must declare the contents carried in their luggage.  According to Customs, the traveler may bring duty-free goods in their suitcase for their family’s use, as long as they are not for commercial purposes. If the traveler brings in more than $10 thousand cash, it must be declared.