Entering Norway by car — customs allowances and bringing your dog

The short answer (status: October 2026): each adult may bring 1 litre of spirits, 1.5 litres of wine and 2 litres of beer into Norway duty-free, or 3 litres of wine and 2 litres of beer without the spirits. Tourists who live outside Norway may also bring 200 cigarettes or 250 grams of tobacco. Meat, meat products, cheese and animal feed from an EEA country are limited to 10 kg per person in total. A dog needs a microchip, an EU pet passport, a valid rabies vaccination and a tapeworm treatment given 24 to 120 hours before you arrive, and you go through the red channel. Getting the dates right at home saves money and the holiday.

The allowances at a glance

Alcohol and tobacco

The spirits quota can be swapped for 1.5 litres of wine or of beer, alcopops or cider, and the wine quota for the same amount of beer, alcopops or cider. It never works the other way: weaker drinks cannot be swapped for stronger ones. The quotas are per person and do not count towards the value limit. Duty-free shops at Norwegian airports only sell the smaller resident tobacco quota.

More than the quota: on top of the duty-free quota, you may declare up to 27 litres of beer or wine, 4 litres of spirits, 400 cigarettes and 500 grams of tobacco, chewing tobacco or snuff for your own use, and pay the duty. You declare in the Norwegian Customs app or in the red channel at the border.

Short trips: if you have been abroad for less than 24 hours, you may only bring alcohol and tobacco if you can document that local taxes were paid in an EEA country. You cannot buy them tax-free on such a trip.

Other goods: the value limit

Norwegian Customs lets you bring goods worth up to NOK 6,000 without paying duties after a trip of more than 24 hours, and up to NOK 3,000 within a 24-hour period. An item that forms one whole cannot be split across several trips. For tourists who live outside Norway, personal belongings brought for use during the stay, such as clothes, phones and computers, are not subject to the value limit as long as you take them with you when you leave.

Food: meat, cheese and the camper fridge

From an EEA country, the quota is 10 kg in total of meat, meat products, cheese and animal feed per person over the age of 12. Dog and cat food is not part of the 10 kg. Beyond the quota, the value limit decides how much food you may bring without paying Norwegian taxes. From outside the EEA, meat and dairy products may not be brought in personal luggage without a special permit from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, except from Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Andorra and San Marino. Potatoes may not be imported without special permission.

A temporary restriction: because of foot-and-mouth disease in Europe, Norwegian Customs asks travellers not to bring unlabelled meat or meat products, cheese, other dairy products or other animal products from cloven-hoofed animals out of the restriction areas, for example goods bought at farms or markets, until the outbreak is over. The page was last updated on 24 July 2026, so check it again shortly before you travel.

Bringing a dog from an EU or EEA country

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) sets these requirements for a private trip:

• Microchip meeting ISO standard 11784, using HDX or FDX-B technology.
• EU pet passport issued by an authorised vet in Norway or another EU/EEA country, signed by you as the owner, or it is not valid.
• Rabies vaccination, valid on arrival. This does not apply if you travel with the dog from Sweden. The dog must be at least 12 weeks old and chipped before the vaccination, and after the first vaccination you must wait 21 days before it is valid.
• Up to five dogs, and only your own animals.

The tapeworm window. The dog must be treated against the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis before it arrives in Norway. The treatment must be:

• given between 24 and 120 hours before the dog arrives in Norway;
• given by an authorised vet in the country the dog is travelling from, and only vets in EU/EEA countries may give and document it;
• given with an approved product containing, for example, praziquantel or epsiprantel;
• recorded by the vet in the EU pet passport or health certificate.

Dogs arriving directly from Finland, Malta or Ireland do not need the treatment. If you cross the border often, there is an alternative "28-day rule" with continuous treatment, which has its own conditions. Mattilsynet recommends, without requiring it, a further treatment after arrival if the dog may have been exposed to infection after it was treated.

Counting the window is the part that most often goes wrong on a long drive: a treatment on Monday morning for a Wednesday arrival works, a treatment a week before departure does not. Book the vet appointment along the route if necessary.

At the border: go through the red channel and show the dog and its documents to Norwegian Customs. If you come from Sweden and the dog has only been in Sweden, you may use the green channel if all requirements are met. Some breeds are banned in Norway. If the requirements are not met, you either take the dog back to the country you came from or pay for it to stay in a kennel.

In Norway: from 1 April to 20 August, dogs must be kept on a lead or securely fenced or shut in, so they cannot chase or harm livestock, reindeer or wild animals. Municipalities may add their own lead rules.

What this article leaves out

Tolls and ferries start working the moment you cross the border; they are explained in How do you pay Norway's tolls with a foreign car? and in our guide Norway tolls and ferries explained. Travelling with a dog in a camper, along with Norway's alcohol and shop rules, is covered in our Norway camper handbook. How to get here is in Ferry to Norway.

FAQ

How much alcohol can I bring into Norway?

Duty-free per adult: 1 litre of spirits, 1.5 litres of wine and 2 litres of beer, or 3 litres of wine and 2 litres of beer. More can be declared and taxed, up to the limits Norwegian Customs sets.

Can I bring food into Norway in my camper?

From an EEA country, up to 10 kg of meat, meat products, cheese and animal feed in total per person over 12. Dog and cat food is extra. Check the temporary foot-and-mouth restriction before you go.

When does my dog need the tapeworm treatment?

Between 24 and 120 hours before you arrive in Norway, from a vet in the country you are travelling from, recorded in the pet passport. Dogs coming directly from Finland, Malta or Ireland are exempt.

Does my dog need a rabies vaccination for Norway?

Yes, unless you are travelling with the dog from Sweden.