As the travel season continues, RIX Riga Airport, the Food and Veterinary Service (PVD), the SRS Customs Board, the Nature Conservation Agency (DAP) and the Tax and Customs Police are urging travellers, before returning from countries outside the European Union, to make sure that the goods, souvenirs and medicines they have bought may be brought into Latvia.
Most of the violations that SRS Customs Board officers detect at Riga Airport are not the result of deliberate wrongdoing but of not knowing the rules. Travellers often assume that an item which can be bought abroad may also be brought legally into the European Union. However, strict restrictions or bans apply to certain foodstuffs, to souvenirs of animal and plant origin, and to some medicines.
The institutions taking part in the event “Souvenir or violation? What may not be brought in from countries outside the European Union” reminded the public that the purpose of these rules is to protect human health, biological safety, the environment, wild species and public safety.
Foodstuffs can create biosecurity risks
PVD stresses that a range of food products may not be brought in from countries outside the European Union, including meat and meat products, milk and dairy products, and fresh fruit and vegetables without a phytosanitary certificate. Even a small quantity of food can become a source for the spread of plant or animal diseases.
Statistics show that considerable quantities of prohibited products are regularly removed at Riga Airport from the baggage of passengers arriving from countries outside the European Union. In 2025, 3,377 kilograms of meat and dairy products and 3,447 kilograms of fruit and vegetables were removed. In 2026, by the end of July, 2,052 kilograms of meat and dairy products and 1,435 kilograms of fruit and vegetables had already been removed.
If, at a customs officer’s request, a passenger voluntarily disposes of products that may not be brought into the EU in the containers specially provided for the purpose, no penalty is applied. If a person refuses to comply with a customs officer’s legally grounded requirements and does not voluntarily dispose of the products, administrative violation proceedings are started and an administrative penalty is imposed.
Bringing in medicines can have serious consequences
The Tax and Customs Police draw attention to a growing trend for travellers from destinations such as Egypt and Turkey to try to bring sedative medicines bought abroad, including sleeping pills, into Latvia.
The preparations encountered most often are “Sleepez” and “Night Calm 3 mg”. Although these medicines can be bought legally in some countries, eszopiclone, the substance they contain, is on the list of prohibited substances in Latvia, and moving such medicines across the Latvian border is a criminal offence regardless of the quantity of the substance or the type of baggage.
Over the past two years, 23 sets of criminal proceedings have been started in connection with bringing in substances containing eszopiclone, and 17 of these have already been referred for prosecution. Such cases are most often detected among passengers arriving from Egypt.
The Tax and Customs Police urge people, before buying medicines or moving them across the border, to check what they contain and to familiarise themselves with the restrictions in force.
If there is nevertheless a genuine need to bring medicines bought in other countries to Latvia (or to take them along when leaving Latvia), we recommend making sure you have a prescription written by a doctor.
An exotic souvenir may turn out to be a protected species
DAP reminds travellers that souvenirs bought on trips may be made from protected animal or plant species, which require special permits to bring in, or whose import is banned altogether.
The rules of the Washington Convention, or CITES, apply not only to living organisms but also to various manufactured goods, including leather products, corals, cosmetics, medicinal preparations and other products containing parts of protected species. Responsibility for bringing such items in legally rests with the traveller.
To avoid unpleasant situations, DAP advises buying souvenirs of natural origin only at legal points of sale, keeping documents proving their origin, and checking the status of the species in question before making a purchase.
Although the number of violations found in passenger baggage is falling, with 16 such cases recorded in 2025, corals, sturgeon caviar, crocodile skin and snakeskin goods, cosmetics containing caviar extract, alcohol containing snakes and other exotic items are still being confiscated at the airport.
Most violations involve failure to declare excise and other goods, and bringing in prohibited substances
The SRS Customs Board reports that customs checks at Riga Airport in the first half of this year have already detected 1,057 violations, almost as many as in the whole of 2025, when violations were dealt with in 1,166 cases. The biggest increase consists of breaches of the rules on bringing in cigarettes and alcoholic drinks, where the limits on the quantity of goods that may be brought in without paying duty are not observed. The number of cases of failing to declare new goods has also risen. The SRS Customs Board reminds travellers: if the value of goods bought outside the EU exceeds 430 euros, the traveller must declare them and pay tax on them. The number of attempts to bring in narcotic and psychotropic substances has also increased this year: whereas 13 such cases were detected in the whole of 2025, there were already 26 in the first half of this year.
Check the rules before you travel!
RIX Riga Airport and the state institutions involved urge passengers not to rely solely on information given by sellers or on opinions found on social networks, but to find out for themselves, in good time, what restrictions apply to food, exotic natural souvenirs and medicines, including veterinary medicines, that we want to bring home from trips outside the European Union. Such caution will help to avoid the confiscation of goods, delays at customs control and administrative or criminal liability, and will also protect Latvia’s environment, agriculture and public safety.