Duty free allowance cigars in Oceania
Recently we got confronted with the wild range of different rules and regulations for cigars while traveling internationally. Most countries in the world have an allowance to bring in cigars for personal consumption. It ranges from no allowance at all, to a no limit as long as the boxes are open and it’s for personal consumption. Some countries measure by numbers, others by weight, some in grams in the metric system, others by pounds in the imperial system.
Now even though there are limits to the duty-free allowance, it doesn’t mean you can’t bring in cigars at all. Just declare them, and after paying tax, you can bring in the cigars anyway. Our advice is to play by the rules. Don’t be a dumbass and risk a fine, or even be arrested and trialed for smuggling. It’s not worth your time, or your reputation.
In a series of articles, we dive into the allowances per country, categorized by continent. We started with Europe, then we went to Asia, Africa and today we dive into the regulations of Oceania.
Oceania has a lot of territories, some are New Zealand territories, Australian, French, British and American. And not all follow the same duty-free regulations as their motherland.
And then there is the difference between cigars and cigarillos. Some countries specify that on their duty-free regulations. Small cigars that weigh less than 3 grams each are considered cigarillos.
Now note: all these numbers are the allowance when you bring in cigars personally. The rules and regulations on postal shipments are different.
American Samoa
American Samoa does have the same allowance as the United States, 100 cigars.
Australia
Australia as a low duty-free limit, only 25 grams of cigars or cigarillos.
Christmas Islands
An Australian territory, with the same low duty-free limit of 25 grams.
Cook Islands
A territory of New Zealand but with a wider a duty-free allowance of 20 cigars.
Fiji
Fiji has a duty free allowance of 250 grams of cigars or cigarillos.
French Polynesia
French Polynesia has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos, just like France. But without the quadruple allowance when traveling from an EU member
Guam
Guam has a duty free allowance of 100 cigars. Just like the U.S.A, of which Guam is a territory
Kiribati
Kiribati has a duty free allowance of 225 grams cigars or cigarillos.
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands has a duty free allowance of 454 grams cigars, that’s 2lbs.
Micronesia
Micronesia has a duty free allowance of 20 cigars.
Nauru
Nauru has a duty free allowance of 500 grams cigars.
New Caledonia
The French territory of New Caledonia has the same duty free allowance as the motherland. 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos. The EU allowance is not at play here.
New Zealand
New Zealand only allows 50 grams of tobacco duty-free. Anything over and you pay a hefty tax.
Niue
Even though Niue is a New Zealand territory, it has a duty free allowance of 50 cigars.
Norfolk Island
This Australian territory has the same low duty free allowance as Australia, only 25 grams cigars.
Northern Mariana Islands
An American territory with a duty-free allowance of 2lbs, 454 grams of cigars.
Palau
You can only bring in 1 cigar into Palau before you have to pay tax.
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea has a duty free allowance of 250g grams of cigars or cigarillos.
Pitcairn Islands
We have no information on the duty-free allowance of this British territory. We reached out to local authorities but are awaiting a reply.
Samoa
Samoa is the most lenient country in Oceania. Samoa has a duty free allowance of 250 grams.
Solomon Islands
You can bring in 50 cigars duty-free in the Solomon Islands. Anything over has to be declared.
Tokelau
We reached out to local authorities to learn about the duty-free allowance of this New Zealand territory.
Tonga
Tonga has a duty free allowance of 250 grams of cigars cigarillos.
Tuvalu
Tuvalu has a duty free allowance of 225 grams cigars or cigarillos.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu has a duty free allowance of 25 cigars or 100 cigarillos.
Wake Island
This American territory has it’s own duty-free allowance. 50 cigars with a maximum value of 150 US dollar can be brought in duty-free.
Wallis & Futuna
This French territory follows the French rules of 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos. No exceptions for flights coming in from EU members.
Next week we head to North America for the duty-free allowances in that continent.
