Figures released by the World Trade Organisation in 2011 showed that the US remained the world’s largest importer of both merchandise and commercial services. If your business needs to send parcels or documents abroad at any stage then there is a good chance that, at some point, you’ll find yourself needing to become familiar with US import restrictions in order to avoid falling foul of them.
The majority of items on this list, maintained and enforced by US Customs and Borders Protection (CBP), will be self-explanatory: alcoholic beverages, biological and firearms for instance. Some can be a bit of an eye-opener, though. Take this for example: since November 2000 it has been “illegal in the United States to import, export, distribute, transport, manufacture or sell products containing dog or cat fur”. One wonders how prevalent the problem of dog and cat fur entering the US was prior to November 2000.
Of course, the US is not the only country enforce restrictions on the import of certain goods, each nation has its own specific interests and protects them whenever, and however, possible. This is why it can be important to make yourself aware of a country’s particular customs regulations whenever you’re thinking of sending any kind of parcel there. If your business needs to send items to many different countries, though, it can be all too easy to become lost in a maze of commercial invoices and conflicting national priorities.
Any good online courier, though, will be well versed in the intricacies of everything needed to send any parcel to USA, or any other country for that matter. Whenever you find yourself unsure about whether the contents of a certain package will incur any kind of import restriction a quick call to your chosen courier ought to clear the matter up fairly easily.
As trade between nations has grown, and as cheap courier services have become available to more and more people, global parcel services have gone to great lengths to ensure they remain fully up to date on the finer details of sending parcels between countries. Why not let your courier worry about the details? They are the experts after all.
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