- Animals and parts thereof are prohibited.
- Antique shipments are restricted from Europe, the Middle East and Africa and can only be shipped with an International Special Commodities (ISC) contract. Antiques are defined as a work of art, piece of furniture, decorative object, or silverware that is 100 years old or older.
- Artwork shipments are restricted from Europe, the Middle East and Africa and can only be shipped with an International Special Commodities (ISC) contract.
Paintings or other works of art can be accepted if the artist is still alive, the artwork is replaceable and an art dealer or gallery has appraised the artwork within the last year. If the declared value of the artwork is greater than $100.00 and there is a claim, the shipper must provide a copy of the original invoice, a bill of sale, or other proof certifying in writing the actual cost or replacement cost of the item.
Artwork includes the following: Original engravings, prints, lithographs, original sculptures, statuary.
The term "Artwork" does not apply to: architectural, engineering, industrial, topographical, commercial drawings, hand-painted or hand-decorated manufactured articles
- Perishables are not allowed to be imported in courier/express and customs clearance is done through the Cargo terminal-this can be changed as allowed to clear if consignee can produce the NOC from concerned government authority such as Additional Drug Controller, FSSAI, and WLRO etc.
Please ensure such commodities are not sent through express mode to avoid delay in clearance.
The items in scope are prohibited from being sent through express for commercial use. The items below cannot be sent as gifts or as samples:
Perishables goods, Plants and seeds, Precious and semi-precious stones, Gold and silver, Nutritional supplements, Drugs and cosmetics, Confectionary, Dried and fresh fruit, Vegetables, Spices, Honey, Chocolate, Tinned food, Meat and animal products, Milk and milk products and Medicines for commercial use.
If any of the above mentioned items are sent for personal use, clearance and delivery will be subject to approval from Customs.
- Prohibited for Courier & Cargo mode
- Drones are prohibited goods under the Indian Customs Act.
All airport and cargo customs officers have been notified about the regulation and made clear that drones should be restricted/prohibited item for India, and should not be allowed to enter into India at any cost, no matter if Import of Drones/ Toy drones are regulated by Indian customs and can only be cleared post importer complying with following norms.
Importer in India must ensure below stated documents before import in to India;
Clearance certificate from DGCA
Airworthiness certificate or airworthiness certificate exemption letter by Quality Council of India
SIL (Special import license from DGFT)
Any import without aforesaid documents will be subject to penalty on importer and UPS to bring shipment in to India without any valid documents. All such penalty cost would be billed back to origin without any ERN approval.
- All E-Cigarettes and parts required for a E-Cigarette are completely prohibited in India for Export and Import.
- Any form of arms and ammunition is strictly prohibited including any form of toy gun or gun replica.
(Except Guns for consignee who is a renowned shooter and has all valid license from authorities for clearance and import of such goods).
License holder like film productions having valid license and NOC from MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs).
- Emirates and Lufthansa (used by UPS to ship to and from Mumbai, India) have an embargo on Lithium Ion Battery type UN3480 (PI 965 ).
- No restrictions from Customs point of view, from Airline perspective not allowed on commercial airlines.
- Publications containing maps depicting incorrect boundaries of India strictly prohibited.
- Precious and semi-precious stones, gold or silver in any form can be imported under cargo clearance.
- Passports can only be sent to an Embassy in India. Person to Person is not possible.
- Perishables can be imported under Cargo mode
- Personal effects (Classified under CTH/HTS 9803) are restricted for courier clearance, can be cleared only in cargo terminal under baggage mode where these goods can be cleared but consignee should fulfil below conditions:
Should have valid passport and Visa-should have travelled from origin to destination-Should have valid Air ticket-
Shipment should be booked as Same shipper and same consignee-Period of travel history must be within 6 months
- plants and parts thereof are prohibited.
- Products made in Iran are prohibited in our service due to a current embargo.
- Publications containing maps depicting incorrect boundaries of India prohibited for Courier & Cargo mode
- Sample shipments cannot exceed 5 pieces of the same model. Samples without clear descriptions are subject to a Customs inspection. Brochures, catalogs, and advertising literature cannot be shipped as samples. These items are subject to import duties regardless of value.
Note: Sample (Under CBE XII) Clearance not permitted in Mumbai and hence all shipments will fall under dutiable category. For other ports such as Bangalore and Delhi there is no such restrictions and can be cleared as duty free if it falls under same category.
The items below cannot be sent as gifts or as samples:
Perishable goods, Plants and seeds, Precious and semi-precious stones, Gold and silver, Nutritional supplements, Drugs and cosmetics, Confectionary, Dried and fresh fruit, Vegetables, Spices, Honey, Chocolate, Tinned food, Meat and Animal products, Milk and milk products and Medicines for commercial use.
If any of the above mentioned items are sent for personal use, clearance and delivery will be subject to approval from Customs.
- Shipments of seeds require a No-Objection Certificate from the Plant and Quarantine Office.
Seeds can be imported under Cargo mode.
- From 1 July 2022, India has a ban on identified single use plastic items.
The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of the following single-use plastic items, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene commodities is effective.
A-Ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene [Thermocol] for decoration.
B-Plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic, or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.
The notice also states carry bags made of virgin or recycled plastic shall not be less than 75 microns in thickness effective September 30, 2022 and 120 microns in thickness effective December 31, 2022.
- Shipments of used electrical & electronic equipment (for example, used computers, CRT, RAM, electrical or electronic assemblies and etc.) require a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Ministry of Environment & Forest (MOEF). The Consignee is responsible for the application of the NOC.
- India prohibts importation of used items of any nature, whether for personal, commercial or professional use unless consignee is able to obtain a Special Import License (SIL) granted by the Director General of Foreign Trade in India.
Used goods are not allowed to clear in Express Terminal.