Paraguay has signed and ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Paraguay has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Paraguay has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Paraguay implements a de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, equal to USD 100, below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Resolution No. 1298 of 2018 of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce established that electronic purchases up to USD 100 that are not subject to prior import licenses are required to pay only the casual VAT of 13% and the transportation payment. As for operations between USD 100 and USD 1,000, they must pay between 15% and 35% of the Common External Tariff, as applicable.

Law No. 4868 on Electronic Commerce establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries beyond copyright infringements. According to Art. 11 of Law No. 4868, if the service receiver provides the data, the intermediary service provider shall not be responsible for the information transmitted under several circumstances, including when providers or data do not initiate the transmission is not changed by providers. Art. 16 requests all providers to establish a mechanism to remove content that violates copyright and related rights and industrial property laws from the network. This mechanism must be public and accessible to any user.

According to Arts. 4 of the National Telecommunications Commission's (CONATEL) Resolution No. 656/2008, the activation of a Mobile Telephony Service line requires the Sales Agent to implement procedures for identifying and registering the User. For natural persons, this involves presenting a copy of their identity document. Users who fail to provide the necessary documentation or meet the requirements specified in Art. 5 will be unable to activate a Mobile Telephony Service line. According to Art. 5, a Mobile Telecommunications Service Provider must maintain a record of its activated lines, which includes information such as an ID Document, the electronic serial number of the terminal (ESN) and/or the SIM card, if applicable, among others.

According to Art. 3 of Law No. 5653, any Internet service providers shall develop and offer free software to detect, filter, classify, delete and block harmful information, and they shall provide clients with such software and its teaching manual, which explains how to install and use it.

According to Art. 6 of Resolution 588/2009, the importation, manufacture and/or commercialisation within Paraguay of telecommunication devices or equipment is only allowed with the prior approval of CONATEL (National Telecommunications Commission).

It is reported that Paraguay requires that specific documentation for each import shipment (e.g., commercial invoice, certificate of origin, and cargo manifest) be certified either through Paraguay’s single window system or at a Paraguayan consulate in the country of origin. Those consularization requirements are reported to be burdensome for companies, imposing an additional cost for each set of commercial documents.

According to Art. 6 of Resolution 588/2009, the commercialisation, installation, and operation of telecommunications apparatus or equipment are only allowed with prior approval by CONATEL (National Telecommunications Commission). According to Art. 2, the goods that need to be homologated include: telecom equipment and devices intended to be connected to public telecom networks or connected through a network termination; telecom equipment and devices that make use of the radioelectric spectrum (including antennas); equipment that does not fall into the previous categories, which are subject to some technical regulation, at the discretion of CONATEL. Certification by foreign suppliers is allowed, but the application must be submitted to the regulatory body for equipment homologation (Art. 17). Once equipment type testing has been performed, a Paraguayan representative must apply for the CONATEL’s certificate of approval by submitting the required documentation, as well as send a type approval request letter addressed to the president of the CONATEL.
It is also reported that the following ICT goods need to be homologated: car audio systems, RF transceivers, BT speakers, modems, wireless microphones, and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) equipment.

It is reported that Paraguay does not mandate functional or accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market.

Law No. 642 regulates the concession, license or authorisation to provide telecommunication services. These will be subject to the payment of a fee, which must be verified within 60 days of obtaining them or renewing them only once in each period. For renewals, the fee payment will be determined on the basis of extensions or new investments. According to Art. 70 of the law, the commercial exploitation of the services will be subject to the payment of an annual fee of up to 1% of the gross income of the provider. In addition, according to Art. 64 of Decree No. 14,135, any foreign company that wants to provide telecommunication service in the country shall be domiciled or establish a representative office in Paraguay.

Paraguay has not appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

According to Law No. 642 of Telecommunications, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Paraguay has joined agreements with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders. According to the Art. 7.2 of the Mercosur Agreement on E-Commerce signed by Paraguay, each Party shall permit the cross-border transfer of information when the purpose of such transfer is to realise the commercial activities of a person of a Party. According to the Art. 7.11 of the Free Trade Agreement between Chile and Paraguay, each Party shall permit the cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, where such activity is for the conduct of the business of a person of a Party.