Restricted and prohibited goods

Nobody thinks they're importing anything sensitive until they are. The list below is a prompt for questions. It isn't a complete list for any country.

CBP's own list includes ceramic tableware, cultural property, gold, trademarked articles and goods from embargoed countries, among others. Some of those are likely to surprise you.

United States. Many agencies regulate imports, and customs acts on their rules. The new requirement to know about is on consumer products: since 8 July 2026, importers of regulated consumer products have to eFile certificates of compliance with CPSC before the goods enter commerce. Entries from a foreign-trade zone follow on 8 January 2027. Agency-regulated mail is also moving: mail shipments subject to another agency's requirements have to use formal entry, or the test described at US low-value shipments, with that compliance date now 20 January 2027.

United Kingdom. The starting point is permissive: most goods come in under an open general import licence, with a specific licence only needed for a limited range. GOV.UK lists the controlled categories, and warns that the list isn't exhaustive. Some goods, like anti-personnel mines, are simply banned.

European Union. TARIC holds the measures by code, and the rules for many product groups come from EU law, enforced at each member state's border. The next big one is the Forced Labour Regulation, which applies from 14 December 2027. It covers goods made with forced labour, on the market or exported, and decisions can lead to withdrawal or a ban. Start the supply-chain mapping well before that date.

Low value doesn't exempt you. A sample or a parcel needs the same licence as a container. Canada's courier programme, for one, excludes goods regulated by other departments, with narrow carve-outs for casual goods.

1. Start with the HS code, since most measures attach to it. A national tariff shows licensing and agency requirements for the code.
2. Read the destination's list, and then ask: what is it made of, what's it for, and who's the user?
3. Ask your broker about anything regulated, before you commit to a buyer.
4. Get your documents before dispatch: permits, certificates, test reports and agency notifications.
5. Check the transit points. A stopover can bring in rules you weren't expecting, including for batteries and dangerous goods.
6. Check the parties as well as the goods, using denied-party screening.

As an illustration, take a shipment of 500 children's wooden toys valued at $15 each, or $7,500. Without the safety certificate data, expect a risk that the goods are held. The importer is then paying for storage and for testing it should have had at the factory, on a schedule it no longer controls. And if the goods can't be brought into compliance, they may have to be exported or destroyed, in which case the $7,500 is gone, together with the freight and fees. It costs far less to test the first batch, and put the data in place, before the first shipment.