Mali customs
Apply for visa
Free import
• Used personal effects in your baggage, and new personal clothing and linen, are duty-free. Goods must belong to you and be for your personal use.
• 1,000 cigarettes or cigarillos, or 250 cigars, or 2 kg of tobacco (these may not be combined).
• One each of: laptop computer, video camera, radio, bicycle or moped, fishing rod and binoculars; up to 2 cameras of different models.
• Portable personal items such as an iron, electrical medical devices, toiletries, a portable fan, a travel blanket and one musical instrument; jewelry in keeping with your personal circumstances.
• Food for the trip: 5 cans of milk, 5 cans of preserved food, 5 bottles of soft drinks, 5 kg of sugar, 2 kg of tea, 1 can or packet of coffee and 2 kg of other food.
• One 12-yard piece of printed fabric (or two 6-yard pieces, or 16 m of other fabric) and 2 pairs of new shoes.
• Declare to customs anything that may be prohibited or subject to duty or tax.
Currency
• Travelers may bring in CFA franc banknotes and foreign-currency means of payment freely, subject to the declarations below.
• Anyone arriving from a country outside the UEMOA with cash or bearer negotiable instruments worth XOF 5,000,000 or more (in any currency) must declare them to customs at the point of entry.
• Non-residents must declare in writing, on arrival and on departure, foreign-currency cash and other means of payment worth more than XOF 500,000. Keep the declaration: you need it to take more than XOF 500,000 in foreign banknotes out of Mali.
• Residents of Mali returning from outside the UEMOA must sell foreign cash worth more than XOF 500,000 to an authorized bank or exchange office within 8 working days.
Prohibited
• Narcotics and psychotropic substances
• Beef and beef products
• Alcoholic drinks in plastic sachets
• Expired food and expired medicines
• Foreign goods bearing a mark or label suggesting they were made in Mali
Restricted
• Firearms and ammunition need an authorization from the Ministry of Defence; a hunting rifle is duty-free only when imported with an import authorization.
• Drones, night-vision binoculars, metal detectors, laser rangefinders, radio transmitters, satellite communication equipment and military-style clothing and headgear (including camouflage) need an authorization from the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of Security.
• Medicines need an authorization from the Ministry of Health. If you travel with medicines, check with customs before you go.
• Meat other than beef and game products need a permit or health certificate from the country of origin; plants and seeds need a phytosanitary certificate or permit.
• Cats, dogs and other pets are duty-free if not imported for commercial purposes and must have a veterinary health certificate. For pets from the United States, the certificate must show a rabies vaccination and is valid for 30 days after issue.
• Protected species of animals and plants and products made from them (CITES) need permits.
• Used personal effects in your baggage, and new personal clothing and linen, are duty-free. Goods must belong to you and be for your personal use.
• 1,000 cigarettes or cigarillos, or 250 cigars, or 2 kg of tobacco (these may not be combined).
• One each of: laptop computer, video camera, radio, bicycle or moped, fishing rod and binoculars; up to 2 cameras of different models.
• Portable personal items such as an iron, electrical medical devices, toiletries, a portable fan, a travel blanket and one musical instrument; jewelry in keeping with your personal circumstances.
• Food for the trip: 5 cans of milk, 5 cans of preserved food, 5 bottles of soft drinks, 5 kg of sugar, 2 kg of tea, 1 can or packet of coffee and 2 kg of other food.
• One 12-yard piece of printed fabric (or two 6-yard pieces, or 16 m of other fabric) and 2 pairs of new shoes.
• Declare to customs anything that may be prohibited or subject to duty or tax.
Currency
• Travelers may bring in CFA franc banknotes and foreign-currency means of payment freely, subject to the declarations below.
• Anyone arriving from a country outside the UEMOA with cash or bearer negotiable instruments worth XOF 5,000,000 or more (in any currency) must declare them to customs at the point of entry.
• Non-residents must declare in writing, on arrival and on departure, foreign-currency cash and other means of payment worth more than XOF 500,000. Keep the declaration: you need it to take more than XOF 500,000 in foreign banknotes out of Mali.
• Residents of Mali returning from outside the UEMOA must sell foreign cash worth more than XOF 500,000 to an authorized bank or exchange office within 8 working days.
Prohibited
• Narcotics and psychotropic substances
• Beef and beef products
• Alcoholic drinks in plastic sachets
• Expired food and expired medicines
• Foreign goods bearing a mark or label suggesting they were made in Mali
Restricted
• Firearms and ammunition need an authorization from the Ministry of Defence; a hunting rifle is duty-free only when imported with an import authorization.
• Drones, night-vision binoculars, metal detectors, laser rangefinders, radio transmitters, satellite communication equipment and military-style clothing and headgear (including camouflage) need an authorization from the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of Security.
• Medicines need an authorization from the Ministry of Health. If you travel with medicines, check with customs before you go.
• Meat other than beef and game products need a permit or health certificate from the country of origin; plants and seeds need a phytosanitary certificate or permit.
• Cats, dogs and other pets are duty-free if not imported for commercial purposes and must have a veterinary health certificate. For pets from the United States, the certificate must show a rabies vaccination and is valid for 30 days after issue.
• Protected species of animals and plants and products made from them (CITES) need permits.