Your household goods to Cyprus: no customs duties, but the port, the plants and the shotgun

Do you have to declare your household goods to Cypriot customs? No. Within the EU your removal goods travel to Cyprus without import duty and without VAT, and there is no form for your furniture. What the transport costs is up to the removal company, not customs. The pitfall sits in two places that appear in no removal quote. The first is the port: Cyprus recognises only the ports and airports in the south as legal points of entry. The second is in the van itself, because plants, weapons and hunting cartridges cannot simply go in.

Why do you pay no import duty?

Because your belongings are already in free circulation in the EU. In its guide for people moving from another EU country, Cypriot customs states explicitly what counts as personal property:

• household effects, personal effects, household linen, furniture and equipment for your own household;
• bicycles, motorcycles, cars with trailers, caravans, pleasure boats and private aircraft;
• household provisions appropriate to a normal family, household pets and saddle animals;
• portable instruments you need for your trade or profession.

The condition is that the goods, by their nature or quantity, have no commercial character. Anyone bringing a van full of new appliances still in their boxes must be able to explain why.

A car has its own rules. On arrival it must clear customs within ten working days, with a CO2 certificate from the road transport department. That is covered in the article on the car to Cyprus.

Through which port must your goods arrive?

Through one of the legal points of entry. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists them: the international airports of Larnaca and Paphos and the ports of Larnaca, Limassol, Latsi and Paphos, all in the area under the government's control. Entry through any other port or airport on the island, meaning in the occupied north, is illegal according to the Republic and in breach of Cypriot law.

Ask your removal company which port the container or trailer arrives in. A route via Turkey and a port in the north is, for the Republic, illegal entry, not a detour. Have the unloading point written into the quote: Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos or Latsi.

Which items need a permit in advance?

Customs keeps a list of prohibited and restricted goods. For an ordinary move, these are the rules that matter:

What	Rule on import
Plants and flowers	licence from the Department of Agriculture, phytosanitary certificate from the country of origin, and an inspection
Shotgun (at most two cartridges per loading)	permit from the Chief of Police
Air rifle up to 4.5 mm	permit from the Chief of Police
Hunting cartridges, fireworks	import licence from the Inspector of Mines
Meat, fish, cheese	authorisation from the veterinary services and a certificate of fitness
Honey and other bee products	licence from the veterinary services
Flick knives and daggers	prohibited
Alcohol and tobacco	free within the EU guideline values, above them customs may ask for proof

Those house plants are the underestimated point. Anyone who puts the ficus and the olive tree in the removal van needs, for Cyprus, a licence from the Department of Agriculture and a phytosanitary certificate. Leave them behind, or arrange it well in advance.

How much alcohol can come along?

Within the EU you don't pay excise duty again on what you bring for your own use. Each country may set guideline values to decide what is still own use, but not lower than the European ones: 800 cigarettes, 1 kilo of tobacco, 10 litres of spirits, 20 litres of fortified wine, 90 litres of wine, of which at most 60 litres sparkling, and 110 litres of beer. If your wine cellar exceeds that, customs may ask for proof that it is for yourself, and otherwise charge excise duty or seize the bottles.

And goods from the north?

Once you live in Cyprus, you may cross the Green Line. What you bring back from the north is limited: goods for your own use up to € 260 per person, and within that at most 40 cigarettes and 1 litre of spirits. Crossing is only allowed at the official crossing points, and bringing rolling tobacco or other smoking tobacco from the north is prohibited. The north lies outside the customs and fiscal territory of the EU, which is the reason for those limits.

What does this mean for your planning?

That the paperwork is not the problem, but the choices before it. Decide what comes along and what doesn't: plants, weapons and a large wine stock need preparation. Have the port of arrival fixed. And keep the car separate, because it has its own ten-working-day deadline. What your pet needs is in taking your pet to Cyprus; the order of the whole move is in the route to Cyprus.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Cyprus or go straight to step 3.1 in the open plan.