Prohibited Items

  • Home
  • Prohibited Items

Firearms and ammunition

  • Including gas and cap guns, airguns, parts for weapons and firearms, weapons rendered harmless and replica weapons, and all kinds of military equipment.

Devices posing a heightened threat to public safety

  • Piercing or cutting instruments with a tine or blade in excess of 8 cm, and irrespective of the length of the tine or blade throwing stars, flick knives, and any other device from which a tine or blade or other implement capable of inflicting bodily harm springs out (bows, crossbows, harpoon guns, slings, catapults, etc.)
  • Devices expelling or spraying substances causing irritation to the eye or mucous membrane and inducing a state of defencelessness (spray)
  • Objects that imitate and resemble firearms, gas and cap guns (replicas), and silencers, and night and laser sights
  • Devices worn on the hand to increase the effectiveness of a punch (knuckledusters)
  • Devices for delivering and increasing the strength of a blow (e.g. leaded or rubber cosh, police truncheon) as well as batons or weights linked together with chains or other flexible material for this purpose
  • Devices delivering an electric shock to render a person temporarily incapable of defence
  • Handcuffs
  • Devices that interfere with the operation of speedometers.

Inflammable materials

Inflammable materials are deemed to be:

  • Spontaneously combustible liquids and products (e.g. petrol, inflammable solvents and cleaning agents, inflammable paints and paint removers, paraffin)
  • Gases and vapours combustible in air at normal pressure (e.g. aerosol products, sprays, lighters filled with gas)
  • Solid materials which easily ignite within a short period of exposure (e.g. to flame or friction) and continue to burn or disintegrate after the source of combustion has been removed (e.g. all types of matches)
  • Materials which easily ignite on contact with water or dampness, or produce a dangerous quantity of combustible gas (e.g. sodium and potassium metals)
  • Oxidising materials from which oxygen is easily produced to fuel the combustion of organic and non-organic matter (e.g. organic peroxides, hair and textile dye, some bleaching agents and glues).

Poisonous, harmful and corrosive substances

  • Poisons are substances and products which by inhaling, swallowing or on contact with the skin of even a small quantity may cause death or serious damage to health (e.g. poisonous chemical substances)
  • Corrosive substances and products are materials which cause necrosis on contact with living tissue or may corrode the material of packaging or transport containers (e.g. corrosive chemical substances, caustic cleaning agents, rust removers and anticorrosion substances with a caustic effect, products containing mercury, acids or battery acid)
  • Radioactive substances, or preparations or products containing radioactive material
  • Imitation postage stamps or imitation forms with value may not be sent in postal items.

Items Deliverable on Conditions

Energy or energy sources necessary for the operation of an object must be placed in a mail item unattached to prevent accidental operation in the package.

Perishable and infective biological matter

  • Due to the changes in air pressure experienced during transport by air, it must be ensured that if substances are transported in sealed ampoules or stoppered glass, their containers are of sufficient strength to withstand the changes in air pressure.

Fragile objects

  • Glass, porcelain and other fragile objects must be packaged in metal, wooden, plastic or strong cardboard boxes and stuffed with paper, shavings or other protective material which prevents friction or collision between objects, or objects and the wall of the container during transport.

Liquids and substances that easily run

  • Liquids, oils and fats that melt may only be posted packed in double containers provided that they do not ferment quickly or explode (such items are excluded from transport by post). These substances must be placed in hermetically sealed containers (as internal packaging), which in turn must be packed in a metal, an appropriately strong wooden, a durable plastic, or a good quality corrugated card covering. An absorbent material that is able to absorb the whole quantity of liquid, oil or fat (e.g. sawdust, cotton wool) must be placed between the inner container and the outer covering.
  • Substances need not be placed in double containers provided hermetically sealed strong galvanised sheet steel or strong and non-breakable plastic containers (canisters) are used as covering. Liquids may only be placed in plastic containers so that a space to a depth of 4 cm from the mouth of the container remains empty. Plastic containers must have suitable handles.
  • Postage is only possible as a fragile parcel to be thus handled.

Greasy substances that do not melt easily

  • Greasy substances that do not melt easily (e.g. ointments, soft soaps, resins) must be placed in a box, bag, plastic film or parchment paper as an inner covering, then packed in a wooden box, metal container or container made of another resistant thick material as a secondary container.
  • Butter, cheese, margarine may also be posted in multi-layered parchment paper on the inside and a cardboard box on the outside, then the whole wrapped in paper. Postage may be by parcel or letter post. 

Substances from the human body

  • Secretions and substances originating from the human body (liquids, tissue) for test purposes addressed to testing institutions (laboratories) and doctors may be posted in the standard packaging for this purpose or as follows:
  • Secretions and test material originating from the human body may be posted as a letter or parcel. The cover of the item – and with parcels the accompanying letter as well – must be marked “Substance originating from human body”. If the substance comes from a person suffering or suspected of suffering from an infectious disease, the above mentioned inscription must be “Infectious substance for testing”.
  • Non-infectious secretions must be placed in a strong-sided plastic or other non-breakable container and its opening hermetically sealed. An adhesive tape not made of paper must be affixed to the sealing mechanism so that it cannot open due to pressure or collision. This inner container must be placed in a box made of cardboard or other similar resistant material, which must be stuck down and tied round for postage.

In order to ensure the safe transport of infectious substances, the multiple packaging systems below must be used:

  • Inner container: a primary, waterproof, impervious container containing the specimen, bearing a label, which must be surrounded by sufficient absorbent material to absorb the entire quantity of liquid in the event of breakage.
  • Secondary container: Another durable, waterproof, impervious container which encloses and protects the inner container(s). More than one inner (primary) container may be placed in a secondary container, in which there must be sufficient absorbent material to cushion the primary containers. The data sheet for the specimens must be affixed to the outside of the secondary container.
  • Outer container: wooden, metal or plastic, which protects the containers and contents during transport.
  • Outer covering: to protect the containers and contents during transport, a box made of stiff paper which is sealed all round with a label.
  • The label must have a printed address on it, and additionally the producer of the packaging system, its certification number and type must be marked on the label or the outer covering.

Ashes of deceased persons

  • The ashes of a deceased person must be packaged in a waterproof inner container and a protective outer container.
  • The outer container must be stuffed with paper, wood shavings or similar material which protects the item from breakage or external impacts during transport.
  • The sealed containers must be covered in strong wrapping paper, and the item stuck down and sealed, and tied with string lengthwise and crosswise.
  • The cover of the item, and for parcels also the accompanying letter, must be marked “Ashes of deceased person”.

Dead animals

  • NamPost does not accept dead animals and perishable items as postal items

Prohibited Articles

Dangerous goods are prohibited in international postal services

Prohibited Articles