WHICH GOODS ARE PROHIBITED?
- weapons and parts thereof
- ammunition and parts thereof
- balloons filled with tear gas and nerve gas
- explosives, easily flammable and hazardous substances, including pyrotechnics, pocket lighters, aerosols, petrol, solvents, matches, perfumes.
- poisonous and radioactive substances
- biologically infectious substances
- narcotic and psychotropic substances and drugs containing them.
- whole blood and components of blood
- acids
- lithium batteries
- perishables
- living animals, birds, fish, creatures, except for silkworms, bees and leeches
- poisonous plants
- items that might be hazardous to the recipient of the postal consignment, to the postal workers and that might pollute or spoil other postal consignments, means for postal work or the property of others
- obscene publications and unlawful indecent items
- money
- personal correspondence between other persons than the sender and recipient of the postal consignment or of persons who live with them
- current and personal correspondence between the sender and the recipient
- items which may be prohibited or restricted for import by legal acts of the country of destination; the detailed lists of prohibited goods are in English; if needed, you may ask for more detailed information in Estonian at our customer service.
- goods for which an import or export prohibition or turnover restriction has been imposed in other legal acts.
- according to the Medicines Act, it is prohibited to send and receive medical drugs with international postal consignments, if one of the parties involved is a legal person, e.g. an internet shop. More about prohibited medical drugs and dietary supplements »
In the "Good description" box you must enter the English name of the item or category of goods you are shipping (it is advisable to start a search on a more general category, eg "tobacco products" instead of "cigarettes"). In addition to the results found in the database, the answer usually includes a link to the local customs website - we always recommend checking the information there.
It is also important that shipments are packaged in accordance with the packaging and labeling instructions.
WHEN DO SPECIAL CONDITIONS APPLY FOR A POSTAL CONSIGNMENT?
Consignation of valuables
Send coins, bearer securities, traveller’s cheques, precious metals and stones as well as other precious goods as a consignation of valuables.
Tobacco products
Within the European Union between private individuals, tobacco products may only be forwarded for personal use and as an incidental consignation on the occasion of a birthday or a holiday, for example. If you, as a private person, often send out large amounts of tobacco products, this will be dealt with as trading, and the recipient will have to pay import duty upon their receipt. The same applies, if a legal person often sends large amounts of tobacco products to a private person. Good to know! In England, tobacco products which have been sent from an EU country for the purpose of personal use will be taxed with excise duty. If the recipient of the postal consignment refuses to pay the excise duty, the postal consignment may be confiscated.
Batteries
It is allowed to send lithium cells and batteries to the following countries:
Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cape Verde, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Greenland, Spain, Croatia, Iraq, Iceland, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malawi, Malta, Montenegro, Nauru, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Zambia, Samoa, Serbia, Finland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Turkmenistan, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Russia.
Sending of lithium batteries to the above mentioned countries is accepted if the batteries are installed in the device. It is permitted to send a maximum of two lithium cells or two lithium batteries per package. Power capacity of lithium cells must not exceed 20 Wh and the power capacity of lithium batteries can be up to 100 Wh. The maximum net weight (cells and batteries) per package must not exceed 5 kg.
Living animals
Usually the postal consignment of living animals is prohibited. However, there is an exemption for bees, leeches and silkworms, for parasites and destroyers of bug which are meant for biological pest control and which are exchanged between officially acknowledged institutions. Likewise, flies of the Drosophilidae species which are meant for bio-medical research and which are exchanged between officially acknowledged institutions may be sent by postal consignment.
When sending bees, leeches and silkworms, pack them into jars or special cases, particularly intended for this purpose, in order to avoid them to be damaged or to escape from the packaging. The postal consignment will be marked with a special label saying „Attention. Living animals.” In the case of living animals, the postal worker has to add an according label to the postal consignment.
Medical drugs and dietary supplements
It is prohibited to send and receive medical drugs with international postal consignments, if one of the parties involved is a legal person, e.g. an internet shop. Private individuals may send medical drugs to each other. No permit by the State Agency of Medicines is needed for a postal consignment containing up to five unopened packages. One package may contain up to 200 tablets. If the quantity of medical drugs to be sent with the postal consignment is larger, then an application needs to be made to the State Agency of Medicines for the delivery of the parcel. In this application it needs to be confirmed that the products were sent from one private individual to another for the purpose of personal use. Based on this application, the State Agency of Medicines will issue the permit for the receipt of the postal consignment.
The restrictions for medical drugs do not apply to dietary supplements and they may be ordered by way of the internet. Yet, it is important to remember that dietary supplements from other countries, which are promoted on the internet, may turn out to be considered as medical drugs on the basis of Estonian law. Before you place an order for dietary supplements, make sure that you are also dealing with dietary supplements in the context of Estonia. If needed, then contact the State Agency of Medicines and inform them about the contents of your postal consignment at the phone number of 737 4140 or by e-mail at the address of [email protected]. If, according to the State Agency of Medicines, you are dealing with medical drugs, then it is not possible to deliver them to you. The delivery of medical drugs which have been ordered on the internet is prohibited in Estonia.
The forwarding of narcotic and psychotropic medical drugs by postal consignment is prohibited.