BizAlgeria

Micro-importation in Algeria: conditions, costs and traps in decree 25-170

Who can micro-import, the 1.8M DA per trip cap, 5% customs duty and 0.5% IFU paid at customs, the ANAE platform, card financing, and what is still unclear.

By (pen name) Published Rules checked on 3 min read

Hands lifting a ceramic vase out of a cardboard box packed with tissue paper, with a small brass lantern inside, beside a closed laptop and linen cloths with green stripes

Decree 25-170 lets an auto-entrepreneur bring back goods from trips abroad to resell as they are: up to 1,800,000 DA per trip and two trips a month. In return there is no commercial register and no prior import authorisation, and you pay 5% customs duty plus 0.5% IFU at customs. Everything runs online from your account on the ANAE platform, but several conditions make the route heavier than it first looks.

One trip, in numbers

Imagine goods with a customs value of 1,000,000 DA (an illustration). The 5% customs duty is 50,000 DA. The 0.5% IFU is computed on the value, the duties and a flat 30% margin, and the text does not say clearly whether that 30% applies to the value alone or to value plus duties:

Reading A (30% on value + duties)Reading B (30% on value only)
IFU base1,365,000 DA1,350,000 DA
IFU at 0.5%6,825 DA6,750 DA
Duties + IFU56,825 DA56,750 DA

The gap is 75 DA, so it hardly matters at this size, but the IFU is paid at customs when the goods are released and you should know which reading the officer applies. Transport, insurance and bank charges are not included.

Who can do it

You need an auto-entrepreneur card showing the “micro-importation” activity (code 080101 according to ANAE), the legal working age, Algerian nationality and residence in Algeria, no other paid, salaried, commercial or liberal activity, CASNOS affiliation, and a foreign-currency account with the Banque extérieure d’Algérie. ANAE adds a tax identification number (NIF) validated by the tax office. Carrying on this activity also rules you out of unemployment allowance (art. 5), a detail few guides mention.

What guides leave out

The cap does not pool. You cannot bundle a month’s cap into one trip, and what is left from one trip does not carry over to the next. According to ANAE’s guide, financing goes exclusively through the international bank card tied to your foreign-currency account at the BEA. The dinar equivalent is calculated at the exchange rate on the day you declare the goods on the platform, not on the day you buy. Exceeding the cap means the excess quantity is seized, and being found with prohibited goods means removal from the register and cancellation of the card.

Excluded: prohibited and sensitive goods, sensitive equipment, pharmaceuticals, goods that need a special licence, and goods that harm security, public order or morality. Products with a shelf life must have more than half of it left on import.

The steps, in order

  1. Get the auto-entrepreneur card with the micro-importation activity on anae.dz.
  2. Request the general authorisation from your account. It is issued within 5 working days, valid for one year and renewable, personal and non-transferable.
  3. Before each trip, declare the list of goods on the platform, before they reach the customs territory: values in foreign currency, country of origin, purchase invoices uploaded, passport details, authorisation number.
  4. Label the goods (name, address, description, country of origin) and sell with simplified delivery notes.

What is still unclear

We did not find the exact documents the BEA asks for this account, nor an answer to whether imported turnover counts toward the 5,000,000 DA ceiling, since the IFU is paid operation by operation at customs. The 2026 Finance Law applies “notwithstanding the legislation in force” and a later law may change it.

For the general tax picture, see the guide to IFU and CASNOS. For the account, see the foreign-currency account guide.

Sources and verification

9 points checked against the texts, 2 still to confirm.

Sources consulted

Show the point-by-point detail
  • Verified Executive Decree 25-170 of 28 June 2025 (Official Journal no. 40 of 29 June 2025) sets the conditions and procedures for micro-importation by auto-entrepreneurs.
  • Verified Micro-importation means goods imported for resale as they are, in limited quantities, by an individual during trips abroad: up to 1,800,000 DA per trip and at most 2 trips per month. The annual tourist allowance is not included in that value (art. 2).
  • Verified Conditions (art. 5–6): legal working age; Algerian national resident in Algeria; no other paid, salaried, commercial or liberal activity; CASNOS affiliation; a foreign-currency account with the Banque extérieure d'Algérie; an auto-entrepreneur card showing the “micro-importation” activity; and a general authorisation from the foreign-trade ministry.
  • Verified Benefits (art. 4): simplified bookkeeping in a register stamped by the tax office, no commercial-register registration, no prior import authorisations, a 5% customs duty.
  • Verified Finance Law 2026 (art. 143): micro-import operations pay 5% customs duty and are exempt from VAT, customs fees and other import duties and taxes (including the solidarity contribution and the provisional additional safeguard duty), with a simplified customs declaration. Applicable from 28 June 2025.
  • To verify Same article: a final IFU of 0.5% is due on each import operation, on a base equal to customs value plus customs duties plus a flat 30% margin, paid to customs when the goods are released. The wording does not make clear whether the 30% applies to the customs value alone or to value plus duties. Our worked example shows both readings.
  • Verified The general authorisation is issued within 5 working days of the application, is valid one year, renewable, and is personal and non-transferable (art. 12). Each import must be declared beforehand on a digital platform run under the start-up ministry (art. 13).
  • Verified Excluded goods (art. 9): prohibited goods and sensitive products, sensitive equipment, pharmaceuticals, goods needing special authorisation, and goods harming security, public order or morality. Imported products must have more than half of their shelf life left on the import date (art. 6).
  • To verify Not found: a step-by-step walkthrough of the platform screens (we did not open an account), the exact documents the Banque extérieure d'Algérie asks for, and whether imported turnover counts toward the 5,000,000 DA ceiling.
  • Verified ANAE guide (updated 30 August 2025): the monthly cap cannot be pooled into one trip or carried over; financing goes exclusively through the international bank card tied to the BEA foreign-currency account; the dinar equivalent uses the rate on the day the goods are declared; a tax-office-validated NIF is required; the platform and the general authorisation are handled from your account on anae.dz.
  • Verified Carrying on micro-importation rules out unemployment allowance (decree 25-170, art. 5).

Corrections log

  • : Article rewritten in a new format. Added details from ANAE's guide (no pooling of the cap, international card financing, rate on the declaration day, NIF) and the unemployment-allowance exclusion. The platform is no longer described as unfound: it runs from your account on anae.dz.
  • : First published.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules can change: check the date above.

Confirm with the official source

Contact details as published by the bodies themselves, collected on 28 October 2026. Before you act, call or write to confirm the point that concerns you, and keep the answer in writing.