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

The postal consignment of lithium batteries is accepted if there is a maximum of four lithium cells or two lithium batteries, installed in equipment. For a lithium metal or lithium alloy cell the lithium content can not be more than 1 g, and for a lithium ion cell, the Watt-hour rating can not be more than 20 Wh. For a lithium metal or lithium alloy battery, the aggregate lithium content can not be more than 2 g, and for a lithium ion battery, the Watt-hour rating shall not be more than 100 Wh. There are no restrictions to the postal consignment of batteries of another type, like for example alkaline batteries and zinc-oxide batteries; however, they need to be sent with separate packaging. Before you put them into a parcel, check which kind of batteries you want to send. For lithium batteries or their packaging, they are marked with the abbreviation of CR, Li or the name of the type of battery is written out in words. More about the postal consignment of batteries

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 100 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.