Sending gift box to USA. What can't I send?

Drake5

Drake5

Drake5

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I'm planning on sending a gift box to a friend in the USA. The contents of the box will contain, confectionery, items of clothing and perfume. I've just read though that perfume is a big no? The items would be wrapped in gift paper, can I just declare the package as a 'cosmetic and gifts'? After all that is what it actually is or can the perfume be detected in some way even though it's in a box and sealed (not sure how it works)....
 
Anything food stuff and liquid wise is a bit complex when sending to the US especially if there is alcohol concerned either in the product or as a drink.
 
Perfume is a prohibited item to send out of the UK. Couriers can and do scan packages and open them to investigate the contents, and if they identify prohibited goods I believe they can and do destroy the packages.

Vague memory suggests this is due to the potential flammable nature of perfumes in a pressurised cargo compartment of a plane.

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/royal-mail-returned-parcel-back-1223633

Edit: list of prohibited items:

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/mail/international-what-can-i-send
 
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The perfume is a no then, thanks guys

What about the rest of the contents of the package? I'll be sending (all items brand new, not sure if it matters).

Headset
Couple items of clothing (socks)
Lots of different chocolates
A small wooden item that has print on it
Shower gift bag (small gels/lotions)
Couple of other small things

I was planning on wrapping everything as they are xmas gifts, is this a bad idea? Does every single package get inspected? Is there anything I can do to reduce the chance of it getting inspected? (I don't want things ripped open). On the customs sheet when I send the package off can I just declare 'gifts'?

I've never done this before so would appreciate all advice
 
They're typically opened when a scan is inconclusive and a visual inspection is needed. Think airport security checks and you won’t be far off.

I don’t believe there’s any general issues with the rest of the items but there could be USA specific concerns to think about.
 
Pudney said:
I don’t believe there’s any general issues with the rest of the items but there could be USA specific concerns to think about.
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US is funny about chocolate but you'll usually get away with a small amount in amongst other stuff. Some of my family have sent chocolate to the US fine.
 
Rroff said:
US is funny about chocolate but you'll usually get away with a small amount in amongst other stuff. Some of my family have sent chocolate to the US fine.
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I was going to send a lot, a shoe-box worth of mixed cadburys chocolate. Could this be an issue?
 
Seems like all liquids are banned aswell, I was planning on sending shower gels/creams.... Non flammable stuff of course. If I send something as simple as shower cream can they detect it or should it go without an issue
 
Drake5 said:
Seems like all liquids are banned aswell, I was planning on sending shower gels/creams.... Non flammable stuff of course. If I send something as simple as shower cream can they detect it or should it go without an issue
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Where are you checking this stuff?

Depends on the carrier but I would have thought perfume and liquids and chocolate (except Kinder Surprise) are fine.

https://crossborder.fedex.com/us/assets/prohibited-restricted/united-states/index.shtml

FedEx and UPS will be flying their own planes so they can ship a lot of stuff which Royal Mail might not accept. If you use Royal Mail then AFAIK they still use British Airways passenger planes so they will just refuse all liquids and many other things to make it simpler for them.
 
asim18 said:
Where are you checking this stuff?

Depends on the carrier but I would have thought perfume and liquids and chocolate (except Kinder Surprise) are fine.

https://crossborder.fedex.com/us/assets/prohibited-restricted/united-states/index.shtml

FedEx and UPS will be flying their own planes so they can ship a lot of stuff which Royal Mail might not accept. If you use Royal Mail then AFAIK they still use British Airways passenger planes so they will just refuse all liquids and many other things to make it simpler for them.
Click to expand...

In international postage there's two sets of rules to consider. International aviation laws (which prohibits or restricts certain items on planes) and local import laws.

Perfume is typically considered a dangerous good under international aviation laws due to its flammable nature (I think it counts as a class 3 dangerous good) and shouldn't really go on a plane. Shipping containers would be a different story.
 
Kinder eggs are now legal here, just make sure you declare everything you send. My parents always send chocolate, mr kiplings, all kind of food stuff. I once brought a suitcase full of food back, which included rice puddings, 2 loafs of Warburtons toasty. The customs guys scanned it, opened it up and asked a few questions. I had declared everything in the suitcase and they saw everything was store bought and not home made and they sent me through.
 
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