Importing alpaca toys from Peru into Canada

The customs duty on alpaca stuffed animals imported from Peru into Canada is free: they fall under tariff item 9503.00.90 of the Customs Tariff, and its Most Favoured Nation rate is free. The 2026 schedule places them under "toys representing animals or non-human creatures", with two statistical suffixes for stuffed animal toys.

A toy covered in alpaca fur is not plush fabric, so your broker decides which of the two suffixes fits; the rate is free on both. The neighbouring item 9503.00.10, for ride-on toys and dolls' carriages, carries 8%, so the classification on the entry matters even for a duty free product.

Free duty does not mean a free entry. The value for duty is still declared, because GST is worked out on it, and your broker's fee and the freight come on top. Import costs can also differ or change with recent tariff measures, so ask your customs broker to confirm the total for each shipment.

The Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement and the CPTPP both give alpaca toys from Peru a free rate, but they bring no saving, because the normal MFN rate on tariff item 9503.00.90 is already free. Canada lists the item as free under every tariff treatment in its schedule, including the Peru Tariff and the CPTPP tariff.

• Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement. In force since 1 August 2009. Originating goods from Peru qualify for the Peru Tariff, and the proof is the agreement's certificate of origin, form BSF267, completed by the exporter and in the importer's hands when the goods are declared.
• CPTPP. Peruvian goods have qualified for CPTPP treatment in Canada since 19 September 2021. Here the importer, the exporter or the producer may certify origin, on any document that states the goods originate and carries the minimum data the agreement sets out.

With no duty to save, a preference claim is optional for this tariff item. If your broker still wants to claim one of the agreements, ask Tubi for the proof of origin when you request the quotation and it is arranged with the export documents.

Alpaca toys imported into Canada for your business pay 5% GST at the border, calculated on their value in Canadian dollars including any duty. The CBSA collects it with the import entry, through your broker or directly from you.

The provincial part of the HST is not payable at the border on commercial goods. If your business is registered for GST/HST and the alpaca toys are imported into a participating province, you self-assess the provincial part in your GST/HST return instead; a business that is not registered uses form GST489.

For a registered shop that resells the alpacas, both the GST paid at the border and the self-assessed provincial part can usually be claimed back as input tax credits. Your accountant can confirm how this works for your business and province.

To import alpaca toys into Canada for sale, your business needs a business number from the Canada Revenue Agency, an import-export program (RM) account, and a registration in the CARM Client Portal. The nine digit business number and the six character RM account together form the fifteen character number that goes on every import entry.

CARM, the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management system, became the official system of record for commercial imports on 21 October 2024. In 2026 it works like this:

• Register your business in the CARM Client Portal and keep its details up to date.
• Delegate your broker. Once you have signed an agency agreement with a licensed customs broker, you give that broker access in the portal, so they can file and account for your shipments.
• Choose how you pay. To have goods released before you pay, you enrol in Release Prior to Payment and post your own financial security. A broker's security no longer covers importers; the transition period for this ended on 20 May 2025.
• Or pay at release. Without your own security, you pay the duties and taxes when the goods are released.

For a small first order of alpaca toys, paying the GST at release through your broker is often the simplest route, and Release Prior to Payment can wait until you import more often.

Alpaca stuffed animals sold in Canada must meet the Toys Regulations (SOR/2011-17) made under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, which forbids anyone to import, advertise or sell a consumer product that does not meet its regulations. For a plush or soft toy, these are the rules that matter most:

• Small parts. A toy likely to be used by a child under three must not have a part that can come loose and fit entirely into the small parts cylinder, under a force of up to 4.45 N. Parts made entirely of soft textile material are exempt.
• Eyes and noses. An eye or a nose of 32 mm or less that is not made entirely of felt or another soft textile must either be impossible to grip with a three pronged claw, or stay attached in the test with a 9 kg weight held for five minutes.
• Stuffing. It must be clean and free from vermin, free of hard or sharp foreign matter, within the toxicity limits and not irritant.
• Flammability. The outer covering of a plush or soft toy made of textile material or natural fur must have a flame spread time of more than seven seconds in the test method of Schedule 5. Health Canada notes this can be met without flame retardant chemicals.

Canada has no approval or certificate before sale: Health Canada places the onus on industry to comply, and recommends testing by an accredited laboratory before a toy is marketed. The test methods for these points are set out in the schedules to the regulations.

Every Tubi alpaca is tested the same way, mechanical to EN 71-1 and ASTM F963, flammability to EN 71-2 and metals to EN 71-3, and passes. The test results can always be shown, and sent on request so you can compare them with the Canadian requirements. Alpaca fur has no lanolin, and the alpacas are compliant for international markets, with the relevant safety tests. The compliance page lists each standard.

Yes: any written statement or warning that the Toys Regulations require on alpaca toys must appear in both English and French. This applies to every required warning on the toy, its packaging or its bag.

• Age label. The regulations do not make an age label compulsory, but Health Canada strongly encourages one. An age label of three years and up does not lift the small parts rule when the toy is still likely to be used by a younger child. Tubi puts the age label on its alpacas; name Canada with your quotation.
• Plastic bags. A flexible film bag around a toy needs the bilingual suffocation warning unless its opening is small enough to be exempt.
• Fibre content label. The Textile Labelling and Advertising Regulations list toys that incorporate a textile fibre product among the articles exempt from the textile labelling requirement of the Textile Labelling Act.

If you add a tag of your own that carries a warning the regulations require, that tag needs both languages as well.

The Canadian importer of alpaca toys must keep records of where the toys came from and who bought them, and report any serious safety incident to Health Canada. Both duties come from the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act and apply to every business that imports or sells a consumer product.

• Records for six years. Keep documents with the name and address of the supplier you bought from and of the businesses you sold to; a retailer records where and when it sold the product. Keep them at your place of business in Canada for six years after the end of the year they relate to.
• Incidents within two days. If you learn of an incident that caused or could cause serious harm, a defect, a recall abroad or insufficient labelling, you inform Health Canada, and the business you bought from, within two days.
• A written report within ten days. When the manufacturer is outside Canada, the importer also sends Health Canada a written report on the incident and the measures proposed within ten days.

Tubi's commercial invoice and packing list give you the supplier record from the start. For what the tests mean for a child, read are alpaca stuffed animals safe.

To order alpaca toys wholesale from Tubi for Canada, you place your order, pay half to start production, and get the alpacas delivered door to door with the papers your broker needs to clear them. Canada is among the countries Tubi already ships to.

1. Choose your mix of collections, shades and sizes from the collection and put it on the order form and name Canada and your province. The minimum is $350.00 for the whole order, mixed.
2. Within 24 hours you have the quotation, with the price, the ready date, HS heading 9503.00 for your broker and the delivery terms. Ask for the proof of origin and the test results here if you want them.
3. Payment is 50% to start, 50% before shipping. The order is ready in 2 to 8 weeks.
4. With DAP the alpacas are delivered to your door; your broker clears them with your business number and RM account, and you pay the GST. With ex works your own forwarder collects them at the workshop.

The wider steps are in how to import alpaca toys from Peru, and prices and terms in the wholesale buyer's guide.