What You Can’t Ship Internationally When You Move

Published Read 9 min read

Packing a shipping container or a few air-freight boxes for an overseas move feels a lot like loading a domestic truck, until you reach the part where your goods cross a border. At that point an entirely different set of gatekeepers takes over: the export rules of the carrier you use, customs authorities in the country you’re entering, and treaties that follow certain objects no matter who owns them. Plenty of ordinary household items that a domestic mover would happily load can’t legally or safely cross an international border at all, and others can only travel if you’ve handled paperwork first.

This guide walks through the main categories of things you generally can’t ship internationally, and why each one is restricted. It’s general information to help you plan, not legal or customs advice, and the specifics change by country and by year. Always confirm against the official lists named at the end before you pack.

Why International Shipping Has Stricter Limits Than a Domestic Move

A domestic mover refuses certain items mostly for safety and liability reasons. An interstate carrier won’t load flammables, corrosives, or perishables because they’re a hazard inside a closed truck, and that’s a familiar list (see our guide on items movers won’t transport, post 026). International shipping keeps every one of those concerns and stacks several more on top.

First, your goods often travel by air or ocean freight, where dangerous-goods rules are even tighter than on a highway. Second, your shipment has to satisfy a foreign government on arrival, and each country writes its own import rules. The U.S. Postal Service puts it plainly: “Each country has its own rules on what it will and won’t allow,” and articles prohibited by the destination country are simply nonmailable. Third, some objects are controlled by international agreement regardless of where they’re going, which is why a carved souvenir or an antique can be stopped at a border even when it’s clearly your personal property.

So when you move abroad, you’re really clearing three filters at once: the export rules where you start, the import rules where you land, and any treaty that attaches to the item itself. The categories below are where most movers run into trouble.

Hazardous and Flammable Materials

This is the largest single category, and it overlaps with what a domestic carrier already refuses. Hazardous materials, also called dangerous goods, are substances that could injure people or cause damage if mishandled, and the rules tighten further for international transport because so much freight moves by air.

Through the USPS international network, a long list of everyday flammables and pressurized products simply may not be sent to any country. That includes aerosols, nail polish, perfumes that contain alcohol, gasoline and other fuels, and dry ice. Flammable or combustible paint and paint-related products can’t be shipped internationally either. Strike-anywhere matches are prohibited, and even safety matches are limited to ground transportation rather than air.

Lithium batteries deserve a separate mention because they’re hidden inside so much of what we own. They store a lot of energy and are a recognized fire risk, so they’re treated as hazardous. For international mail, only lithium cells and batteries that are properly installed in the equipment they’re intended to operate may be sent; loose spare batteries are a different and more restricted matter. Mercury is prohibited outright, whether it’s liquid mercury on its own or sealed inside devices like antique thermometers, barometers, or compact fluorescent bulbs.

The practical takeaway: the cleaning supplies, garage chemicals, half-used paint cans, propane accessories, and spare battery packs you’d normally toss in a box during a local move generally cannot cross a border by mail or freight. Plan to use them up, give them away, or dispose of them safely before moving day. (For getting rid of hazardous household products in general, see post 178.)

Food, Plants, Seeds, and Agricultural Items (Quarantine Rules)

Agricultural items are restricted to stop the spread of plant pests and animal diseases, and this is one area where “it’s just food” reasoning gets travelers into the most trouble. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) warns that many agricultural products can carry foreign pests and diseases, which is why they’re so heavily regulated in both directions.

Plant material is broadly defined. APHIS treats fruits, vegetables, plant parts, seeds, soil, and even souvenirs made from wood or plants as regulated agricultural items. Seeds and plants intended for planting generally require permits and phytosanitary certificates, and that paperwork is shipment-specific rather than a one-time clearance. Soil is especially restricted; APHIS notes that importing soil from foreign sources is prohibited, which is part of why bare-rooting or shipping potted houseplants across a border is rarely straightforward.

Meat and animal products face their own constraints tied to disease status. USDA does not allow travelers to bring back most cattle, swine, sheep, or goat products from countries affected by certain serious livestock diseases, and where products are allowed they often require official documentation of the country of origin. Other categories, including dairy, eggs, and some produce, have their own rules.

Two cautions specific to an international move. First, these rules cut both ways: the U.S. restricts incoming agricultural items, and the country you’re moving to has its own, often different, list. Second, declaration matters. APHIS stresses that travelers should declare all agricultural products, and that declaring honestly avoids penalties even when an inspector decides an item can’t enter. For moving live houseplants between U.S. states rather than abroad, that’s a separate topic covered in post 167.

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Medications

These four sit together because each is controlled, and each is handled very differently from your furniture.

Alcoholic beverages cannot be mailed internationally through USPS at all. Tobacco is restricted rather than fully banned: cigarettes are prohibited for international mailing, while cigars may only be sent to countries that actually allow cigar shipments. So that bottle of wine or the cigar box you’d hoped to send ahead generally won’t move by mail, and any commercial freight route will have its own licensing and duty requirements.

Firearms and ammunition are tightly controlled. Ammunition can’t be mailed internationally, and for handguns, USPS rules limit mailing and receiving to licensed manufacturers and dealers rather than private individuals. Moving firearms across a border is an export-control and foreign-import matter that goes well beyond ordinary household-goods shipping, and it requires checking both U.S. export rules and the destination country’s gun laws before you do anything.

Medications are the category people most often get wrong, because they feel personal and harmless. Through the mail, prescription drugs may generally only be sent by DEA-registered distributors, which means you typically can’t simply mail your own prescriptions to yourself overseas. For controlled substances, the DEA and FDA make admissibility decisions, and suspect packages get referred for inspection. The widely cited practical guidance for medications you carry is to keep them in their original, labeled containers with the prescription information, and to limit quantities to personal-use amounts. Because both U.S. rules and your destination country’s drug-import rules apply, this is a clear case to verify in advance rather than assume.

Wood, Animal Products, and Protected-Species Items (CITES)

Some items are restricted because of what they’re made of, not what they do. Two distinct concerns show up here.

The first is wood, including the wood used to pack and protect your other belongings. Solid-wood packaging such as pallets, crates, boxes, and dunnage can harbor wood-boring pests, so under the international ISPM-15 standard it must be heat-treated or fumigated, debarked, and stamped with the official ISPM-15 mark before it crosses many borders. APHIS describes the treatment as heating the wood to 56 degrees Celsius to the core for at least 30 minutes, or fumigation to the standard’s schedule. For a household move this usually matters when you build custom crates or use untreated wood; reputable international shippers handle compliant materials, but it’s worth knowing why a crate can be turned back.

The second is products made from protected plants and animals, governed by an international treaty called CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforces it, and wildlife items, including parts and products, must be declared at a designated port when they enter or leave the country. Some are essentially off-limits: importing or exporting African elephant ivory for commercial purposes is generally illegal, and Asian elephant ivory is even more restricted, with limited exceptions requiring valid CITES documents.

The same caution extends to many souvenirs and heirlooms made from tortoiseshell, certain corals, reptile and exotic-animal skins, and some furs. A carved figurine, an antique piano with ivory keys, or a coral-inlaid box can be exactly the kind of thing that triggers a wildlife inspection. If you own such items, identify the material and check the CITES and Fish and Wildlife rules well before you pack.

How to Check Your Destination Country’s Prohibited and Restricted List

Because the lists above are partly U.S. rules and partly destination-country rules, the single most useful habit is to verify your specific items against official sources for the specific country you’re moving to. There’s no universal list, and the details change.

A practical sequence:

  • Start with your carrier’s published prohibitions. For mail, the USPS International Mail Manual includes Individual Country Listings that show what you can’t send to each country, along with weight limits and other conditions. International freight forwarders maintain their own dangerous-goods and prohibited-items rules.
  • Check the destination country’s customs authority. Every country publishes its own prohibited and restricted import list. This is where you’ll find country-specific bans, including cultural, religious, or political restrictions that have no U.S. equivalent.
  • Verify agricultural and wildlife items separately. Use APHIS for plants, seeds, soil, and food, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for anything made from protected species. These rules apply on top of, not instead of, ordinary customs rules.
  • When a value or threshold matters, confirm it for the year you’re moving. Duty allowances, used-goods exemptions, and prohibited lists get revised. The handling and clearance process itself, including declarations and brokers, is covered in our customs guide (post 115); deciding what’s even worth shipping is covered in post 117.

A simple rule of thumb closes most gaps: anything flammable, pressurized, alive, formerly alive, regulated by a treaty, or capable of catching fire deserves a second look before it goes in a box. When in doubt, leave it out and confirm in writing.

This article is general information to help you plan an international move, not legal, customs, or regulatory advice. Prohibited and restricted lists vary by country and change over time, so confirm your specific items with the official sources below and with your destination country’s customs authority before you ship.

Sources

  • U.S. Postal Service, International Shipping Restrictions: What You Can Mail Internationally: https://www.usps.com/international/shipping-restrictions.htm
  • USPS Postal Explorer, Individual Country Listings (International Mail Manual): https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/ab_toc.htm
  • USPS, Shipping Restrictions & HAZMAT: What Can You Send in the Mail?: https://www.usps.com/ship/shipping-restrictions.htm
  • USDA APHIS, Traveling With Food or Agricultural Products: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/traveling-with-ag-products
  • USDA APHIS, Traveling From Another Country (declaring agricultural products): https://www.aphis.usda.gov/traveling-with-ag-products/another-country
  • USDA APHIS, International Traveler: Meats, Poultry, and Seafood: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/traveling-with-ag-products/meats-poultry-seafood
  • USDA APHIS, Export ISPM-15-Compliant Wood Packaging Material From the U.S.: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-exports/wood-packaging-material/export
  • USDA APHIS, Import ISPM-15-Compliant Wood Packaging Material into the U.S.: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-imports/wood-packaging-material/import
  • U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Elephant Ivory FAQs: https://www.fws.gov/frequently-asked-questions-about-elephant-ivory
  • U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Buy Informed: A Guide for Travelers Going Abroad (CITES souvenirs): https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/FW-1019-A-Guide-for-Travelers-Buy-Informed.pdf
  • U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Personal Importation: https://www.fda.gov/industry/import-basics/personal-importation

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