Argentina has unified its international shipping regime and Correo Argentino's allowance jumped from USD 50 to USD 400 per shipment. Decree 604/2026 was published in the Official Gazette on 17 July 2026 and took effect the same day.
The headline made the rounds. What almost nobody is explaining is the fine print: the allowance is per shipment and per person. That is where you either save money or waste it.
What changed, precisely
| Until 16 July | From 17 July | |
|---|---|---|
| Correo Argentino | USD 50 per shipment, 12 shipments a year | USD 400 per shipment, 5 a year |
| Private couriers | USD 400 per shipment, 5 a year | USD 400 per shipment, 5 a year |
| Above the allowance | Flat 50% tariff | General regime (21% VAT + duties) |
| Cap per shipment | USD 3,000 and 50 kg | |
Anyone receiving through the official postal service had an allowance eight times smaller than someone using a courier. That gap is gone. And the flat 50% tariff on the excess was removed; it is now taxed under the general regime.
The maths worth doing: 400 × 5 = USD 2,000 a year
Every person gets 5 shipments a year with USD 400 free of duties on each one. That is USD 2,000 a year with no import duties.
Now the part that stings: the allowance does not accumulate, it expires. If you use one shipment for a USD 40 t-shirt, you do not have USD 360 left for the next one. That shipment is spent, and USD 360 of allowance evaporates with it.
| How you do it | Shipments used | Allowance used | Wasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 separate USD 60 purchases, each shipped alone | 5 of 5 | USD 300 | USD 1,700 |
| The same purchases, loosely grouped | 2 of 5 | USD 300 | 3 shipments still free |
| Purchases accumulated close to USD 400 per shipment | 5 of 5 | USD 2,000 | nothing |
Exactly the same money spent on purchases. The only difference is how it is grouped.
Which is why consolidating stopped being a saving and became the main event
Consolidating means combining several purchases into one parcel before it leaves for Argentina. Until yesterday it mostly saved you paying five shipping fees instead of one. From today it also stops you wasting the allowance, which is considerably more money.
With your locker in Europe you buy wherever you like, your parcels pile up in our warehouse, and you decide when to close the box. You can wait weeks if you are building up towards USD 400.
And the part almost nobody knows: the allowance belongs to each person
The 5 shipments and the USD 400 are per person, not per family or per address. Your partner has their own. So do your adult children. So does your mother.
In a household of four that adds up to 20 shipments and USD 8,000 of allowance a year.
That is why MDE lets you ship under different recipients: when the purchase is for your partner it goes under their name and uses their allowance; when it is yours, it uses yours. Each person uses the right the law already grants them, without opening five separate accounts.
An honest note: this works when the goods really do belong to that person. The allowance is personal precisely because it is meant for personal use, so declaring someone else's name for goods that are not theirs is not using the rule, it is something else. Used properly it is perfectly legal and it is what any family buying for everyone already does.
What the decree does not solve
Decree 604/2026 improves what you pay when the parcel enters the country. It does not make European shops sell to you.
Vinted still does not ship outside its European circuit. Wallapop only operates in Spain, Portugal and Italy. AUTODOC does not leave Europe. Neither do the small publishers and collector shops. For all of them you still need a European address that receives on your behalf.
The difference is that now, when that parcel reaches Argentina, it arrives with eight times more exempt margin than it did last week.
How to make the most of it, in four steps
- Count your shipments. Five a year per person. Treat them as the limited resource they are.
- Accumulate before shipping. Aim to get close to USD 400 per shipment instead of sending purchases one by one.
- Spread across the recipients in your household when the purchases genuinely belong to each of them.
- Watch the weight. The 50 kg cap per parcel still stands, so with heavy goods weight matters before value.
The new allowance lets you import up to USD 2,000 a year with no duties. To use all of it you have to group: open your locker, stack up your purchases and ship when the box is full.
Frequently asked questions
What changed with Decree 604/2026?
Argentina unified its international shipping regime: Correo Argentino and private couriers now share the same USD 400 FOB allowance per shipment, with up to 5 shipments per person per year. The flat 50% tariff on the excess was also removed.
How much can I import per year without paying duties?
Each person gets 5 shipments a year with USD 400 exempt from duties on each one, which adds up to USD 2,000 per year. The allowance is per person, not per family or per address.
Does the unused allowance carry over to my next shipment?
No. If you use a shipment for a USD 50 purchase, the rest of that allowance is lost: it does not roll over. That is why it pays to group purchases and get close to USD 400 on every shipment.
Can I ship to another family member's name?
Yes, and it is legal, because the allowance is personal: each person has their own 5 shipments and their own USD 400. With MDE you can declare different recipients, as long as the goods genuinely belong to that person.
What do I pay if my purchase exceeds USD 400?
The flat 50% tariff is gone. The excess is now taxed under the general regime: 21% VAT plus any duties that apply to that type of merchandise.
What is the maximum per shipment?
The cap is USD 3,000 and 50 kg per parcel.
When did the new regime take effect?
On 17 July 2026, the date Decree 604/2026 was published in Argentina's Official Gazette.
Does this help with European shops that do not ship to Argentina?
The decree improves what you pay when the parcel enters the country, but it does not change the fact that Vinted, Wallapop, AUTODOC or specialist collector shops do not ship to Latin America. With a European address you buy as a local customer and the parcel enters Argentina under the new allowance.
Sources
Decree 604/2026, Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic, 17 July 2026.
