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Tobacco in Ecuador

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darrenslewis

Hi folks, I'll be spending most of the winter in Montañita. I unapologetically and unabashedly use smokeless tobacco (specifically Skoal). From my limited research it appears it's not available there. Does anyone know? If it's not available does anyone know if I'd have any trouble at customs if I brought 30 cans with me? And yes, I know it would be a great time to quit but no, I don't have any interest in that.


Thanks so much!


Darren

cccmedia

30 cans of trouble?


Problem number-one.  That's a lotta cans.  SENAE

could determine the cans are for resale, especially

if they're in unopened containers.


Problem number-two.  SENAE could determine that

this is a product for direct consumption and requires

a sanitary permissions document.  That would take

months and money, according to my attorney.


Last year I attempted to import food items for

consumption from the USA into Ecuador.  The

sanitary document option was offered.  In the end,

I received no product, paid hundreds to SENAE in

late fees, paid a USA shipper that incorrectly

advised me to consolidate my ordered products ..

paid for useless international shipping back and forth ..

and paid $450 to my Ecuadorian attorney to prevent

the situation from spinning further out of control.


--


SENAE is unpredictable -- decisions can depend on

interpretations of importation laws, changes in

regulations and what the on-duty officer had for

lunch on a given day.


Consider getting attorney input before attempting to

bring 30 cans of any consumable product

into La República.


---


Also consider how it would be a major bummer to

jump through hoops to set this project into motion ..

only to later find out that the product is readily

available in Ecuador.


cccmedia













OsageArcher

I'm not sure if smokeless tobacco is available in Ecuador but it sure is regulated.


FedEx will not ship it to Ecuador, along with a long list of other prohibited items:


Ecuador along with many other countries in conjuction with the World Health Organization (OMS in Spanish, Organización Mundial de Salud) heavily regulates the production, distribution and sale of smokeless tobacco (tabaco sin humo) so it is unlikely they would allow 30 cans - as cccmedia points out this would be seen by SENAE as a big enough quantity to be "for sale" and not just for personal use.



Reading between the lines of the above document, it seems that you probably can buy smokeless tobacco in Ecuador but health warnings must take up at least 50% of the space of the surface of its packaging...


Tobacco is grown in Ecuador for cigars, and many people still smoke cigars and cigarettes and pipes. I suggest going to any smoke shop (³Ù²¹²ú²¹±ç³Ü±ð°ùí²¹) and asking for tabaco sin humo.


P.S. I was unable to determine if there are any smoke shops in Montañita, maybe not - but there are plenty in Quito and probably also in other good-sized Ecuadorian cities. Just do an internet search for

ecuador quito tabaquería


darrenslewis

@cccmedia Thank you so much. I agree and had the same suppositions about the import of such a quantity.  I was kinda hoping you’d be the one to respond. Truly much appreciated. I guess I’ll be pretty grumpy for a couple of weeks once I run out of what I can carry in my pockets but better for it.


Again, thank you!

Guest7953

Maybe try sending email to them. If the link is moderated Google:

Pipaparaiso

Cigar Shop in Montanita






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