As a mail forwarder - i.e. for a company that sends goods from the USA, we help very many people to get the goods they need, but for some reason they cannot just buy them and order them to their home address - when they need an American card or not to be sent to Russia, for example .



But the policy of the store does not work, for example, with foreign customers or specifically the CIS countries - this is one story. It is quite another thing when goods are prohibited for export from the USA - we are talking about military and hunting equipment in the main.

What can we face?

This story happened to us at the dawn of the business of mailforwarders, when we were still working only on Belarus: a client came to us from there, asking for help with sending sniper sights and night vision devices, which cost $ 5-7 thousand each - earning $ 10 "- 5% of the commission for one such package would be several hundred dollars.
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It would be a good idea if we didn’t have an example of a user from a single forum that dealt with the same, but then got lost somewhere. We contacted him and he told how he once sent the sight, received a $ 50,000 fine, and that was all. And we, accordingly, did not even begin.

And somewhere in a year we came across an article about how a certain Belarusian got 15 years for smuggling military equipment. Honestly, we do not know whether he is the same person. But we think that it could well be him.

Today we just talk, but if we come here again, then you will leave with us

There are things that can be sent to the states, and can not be sent abroad. Their list is quite impressive . And mail forwarders should know it as an alphabet, because customers who cannot order them by other means will definitely try to do it through us.

Repacking the parcel into one of Black Fries (a service that Pochtoy.com provides for reducing the weight or number of parcels, combining several into one), we saw there two sights on which it was written to an American in white: . The package we had to deploy back. Such customers, sitting in Russia or another CIS country, take virtually no risk, except for unfulfilled expectations. We, on the other hand ...

Homeland Security visit

A customer ordered a Czechoslovak-made gas mask on Amazon, which was withdrawn from circulation in 1985. He put it in the package, declared it as a gas mask, indicated the price. One parcel to us from the mail returned. We contacted the client to inform him about it, but at that time the second parcel was already delayed, and with it came a letter that the export of such is prohibited. Then everything was like in a movie: two cool guys with badges came to our founder at the Pochtoy.com warehouse, showed tokens. To his question: are they arresting me? - The guys from Homeland Security (American counterintelligence) replied: "Today we will just talk, but if we come here again, then you will leave with us."

Communication with them took place right in the middle of the warehouse, it was obvious that everything we ship is ordinary goods, no helmets and military goods. But still it was, frankly, unpleasant. The client who ordered gas masks, in his words, was engaged in the organization of airsoft matches. When we explained the situation to him, he contacted all the shops, and within a day returned them everything back. And then we shook up the warehouse - and found something else interesting.

At that time, we also accepted parcels from locals, including Russians, in Pittsburgh. And during a total check of our warehouse after a visit from Homeland Security, in one of the packages we found a spare part from a pistol. The sender pretended that he did not understand what we were talking about, and that it was just a spare part for the car, after which he asked her to throw it out and send the rest. After that, we began to check with the declaration of all the parcels from the local parcels. And for good reason: six months later, this same person decided to try his luck again - and this is what we found wrapped in foil at the bottom of his regular package:

What can and cannot be sent: white, gray and black zones

The full list of prohibited goods can be found in English here .

As can be seen, military goods that can be used or converted for attack or defense are prohibited for export from the United States. This is the black zone. The usual form, strictly speaking, does not fall into this list, but in this case we will definitely take an interest in the purpose and purpose of the package, because we also try to avoid the gray area and advise everyone. If there is some kind of charge, some kind of sight, in which you are not sure, it is better not to send.

Well, the white zone is everything else that they order from us: clothes, household items, gadgets, and so on. All that is not prohibited is allowed. Check out the list at the link above and use the Pochtoy.com mailforwarding :



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