Dental Chairs & Dental Equipment in Peru

Registering and importing dental equipment in Peru

Dental chairs and dental units are medical devices in Peru and need a registro sanitario from DIGEMID, the medicines and devices directorate of the Ministry of Health, before they are sold. The rules come from Ley 29459 and its regulations: devices are classed I to IV by risk, and the registration is held by a Peruvian company licensed as a droguería or laboratorio — normally the importer or distributor — because a foreign manufacturer cannot hold it directly. A registro is valid for five years and the renewal (reinscripción) can be filed from one year before it expires; a second droguería can obtain its own import certificate for a device that is already registered.

Applications are filed through the VUCE single window with the manufacturer's dossier: a Certificate of Free Sale (apostilled — both China and Peru are in the Hague Convention — and translated), evidence of the quality system such as a valid ISO 13485 certificate, the technical report, verification and validation summaries with a declaration of conformity, a risk-management summary, and the Spanish labelling and instructions. The regulations set review periods of 60 to 120 days by class; in practice a filing takes several months, so dealers start it before the first container is booked. We supply the manufacturer's part of the file against the model numbers on your order and apply the Spanish labelling at the factory.

Customs. Peru and China have had a free-trade agreement since 2010 — upgraded by a protocol signed in 2024 — so Chinese-origin chairs enter at preferential duty when the certificate of origin accompanies the shipment; VAT (IGV) at 18% — 16% IGV plus 2% municipal promotion tax — applies on the customs value plus duty. The registro sanitario is a control document at the SUNAT declaration, so it must be in hand before the container arrives. Your customs agent confirms the tariff line and the origin rules before you fix a resale price.

If your clinic is buying one chair, contact the factory to confirm current local coverage, suitable importers and installation and after-sales arrangements before ordering.

Power, air and water in a Peruvian clinic

Peru's mains supply is 220 V at 60 Hz with Type A, B and C sockets — the voltage of Europe with the frequency of the Americas, the same combination as the Philippines. That is why we ask for the country before quoting: the chair is supplied in its 220 V version, but the compressor motor must be built for 60 Hz; a 50 Hz motor run on 60 Hz turns faster than it was designed for and wears sooner. Order the 220 V / 60 Hz version and check that it is written on the proforma invoice.

Supply in Lima is generally stable, but congested transmission lines brought frequent outages and voltage swings in 2025–2026 to parts of the north-east and the Amazon, such as Iquitos and San Martín. Practical points:

• Put the chair's control unit on a voltage stabiliser or UPS — cheap insurance against surges wherever a generator is in the loop.
• Size any backup for the compressor. The chair draws little; the compressor decides whether a UPS or small generator copes. Ask us for its running and starting current.
• Oil-free compressors need no oil changes, and a dryer keeps handpiece air dry in Lima's humid winters and the jungle regions.

Water: the dental unit runs on filtered water or a bottle-fed system; the autoclave on distilled water — a 4-litre distiller covers a single-chair practice.

Shipping from Foshan to Chancay and Callao

Our factory is in Foshan, an hour from the container ports of Guangzhou (Nansha) and Shenzhen. Peru's sea leg changed in November 2024 when Chancay, the COSCO-operated deep-water port about 80 kilometres north of Lima, opened with direct services from China: about 23–25 days from Shanghai, against 35 days or more via transhipment before. Callao, Lima's traditional port, remains the main gateway and is quoted at about 30–35 days from South China. Tell us which port your customs agent prefers and we book accordingly; both are within an hour or two of Lima's clinics.

A single chair or a small first order goes as LCL (shared container); a first order for resale is usually a 20 ft container. The packing data we send with every quotation lists how many chairs and equipment combinations fit in a 20 ft and a 40 ft container. Small items — handpieces, curing lights, cameras — can travel by air to Lima in about a week.

We quote FOB Guangzhou or Shenzhen for dealers with their own forwarder, or delivered to Callao or Chancay when you prefer one price that includes the sea freight. Payment is by T/T or L/C; lead time is confirmed on the proforma invoice and sample units ship first.

Buying as a clinic or as a dealer

Clinics. Yes, we sell single units directly — one chair for a new practice, a second chair for a group practice, or a replacement for an old unit. In Peru, contact the factory to confirm current local coverage, suitable importers and installation and after-sales arrangements; if you prefer to import through your own droguería, we support your technician by video during the first installation and supply the DIGEMID documents to your registration holder. You can write to us in Spanish.

Dealers and droguerías. Peruvian dealers work with us under the distributor programme: factory-direct pricing tiered by quantity, the registration document pack with Spanish labelling, marketing files, remote technical training and a recommended spare-parts kit available for the first container, with contents and pricing confirmed on the proforma invoice. Territory exclusivity is discussed once a partner meets an annual commitment. Most partnerships begin with a trial of one to a few units, then a first container once the chairs are registered and installed.