Your Clear General Guide to Restricted and Prohibited Items for Shipping
If you have a business and you ship to various customers, suppliers, business contacts, and others on a regular basis, then you should be aware of certain restrictions and prohibitions regarding different items. There are definitely items which are restricted or prohibited, and different countries have their own list of such items as well. If you would like to be sure that the things you are planning to ship are allowed to be shipped, here’s your clear general guide to restricted and prohibited items for shipping.
Know the restrictions and prohibitions per country
Shipping internationally comes with some strict regulations, not just based on the item you are going to ship, but also on an individual country’s rules and laws. Some of the most common destinations for international shipping from the UK include the United States, Germany, and Canada.
- For the US
For the United States, there is an extensive list of prohibited items. Prohibited items are those which are not allowed under any circumstances to enter the country. In general, this includes live animals and animal products such as fresh, frozen, or chilled mutton, beef, lamb, goat meat, or pork which originates from countries where hoof and mouth disease is found. This also includes dairy produce (eggs, milk, etc.) from countries with hoof and mouth disease. Additionally, the list consists of live plants and trees, roots, and bulbs, and it also includes edible fruit and vegetables.
- For Canada
For Canada, prohibited items include those which are considered to have obscene, immoral, or indecent content, information on pool-setting, waging, or betting, articles related to defrauding or deceiving the public, and other items such as counterfeit coins, corrosives, live animals, butter or margarine substitutes, and explosives and firearms, amongst others.
- For Germany
For Germany, the list of prohibited items is also quite extensive. For example, you can’t send lithium batteries to the country as well as any kind of equipment which contains lithium batteries, and you can’t ship live animals, vegetable products, dead or live plants, and cannabis resin, either. The list of prohibited items also includes mineral products as well as products like absinthe (and similar) and the raw materials used for their production. Other things which are not permitted in Germany include negatives and photographic plates which someone can use to counterfeit documents and coins. In addition, wood articles and wood are prohibited from entering the country, and this also includes wood charcoal as well as cork articles, wickerwork, and basket ware.
- For France
France is another popular destination for shipping from the UK, but the prohibited items list in the country is also extensive. Some items included in the list are live plants and animals, cotton seeds, oil seeds and grains, and inorganic chemicals. The list also includes such items as dyeing or tanning extracts and tannins and pigments as well as propellant powders and detonators. Wood articles are also prohibited in France, and this includes things like wood charcoal, chestnut timber (and its bark), and resinous timber.
There are many other items which are restricted or prohibited, so it’s your job to find out the regulations on whatever items you are shipping. One aspect you should always keep in mind as well is the importance of having the proper packaging. Always make use of the sturdiest packaging material you can find, especially when it comes to the actual container you will use for the item, as recommended by the experts in packaging supplies London, UK Packaging. Proper labelling and addressing is also essential and be sure to mark the parcel or package with appropriate labels if it is delicate or fragile as well.
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