What you cannot send
What is banned outright, what passes only with a permit, and the personal allowances that apply. The rules differ in each direction, so pick yours.
Some things we never carry
Whatever customs allows, we never take alcohol or tobacco, loose lithium batteries and power banks, cash, gold and jewellery, live animals or counterfeit goods. Your parcel is carried by a traveller — an individual person, not a freight carrier. The full list is in section 4 of our terms.
The lists below are a guide, not a legal document, and import rules change. Confirm with the destination country's customs before you send. Checking that your item is allowed in is your responsibility, not ours.
What you cannot bring into Uzbekistan
These are Uzbekistan's rules, not ours. Customs applies them on arrival, and the person carrying your parcel is the one answerable for them.
Banned outright
Prohibited in any quantity, with no exceptions.
- Narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors
This covers paraphernalia for smoking opium and hashish too.
- Weapons, ammunition and weapon parts, air guns, non-lethal guns, bladed weapons, stun guns
Toy replicas also raise questions at the border — better not to send them.
- Explosives and detonating devices, flammable substances, fireworks, gas cylinders
- Drones and unmanned aircraft
Banned outright for individuals. Permits are issued to legal entities only, and breaching this carries up to 3 years' imprisonment.
- Portable laser pointers
- Counterfeit goods — copies bearing someone else's trademark
- Printed, handwritten, video and audio material aimed at undermining the state, breaching territorial integrity, or promoting war, terrorism, violence, nationalism, religious hatred or racism, and pornographic material
Permit required
Allowed in, but the permit has to be obtained in advance and shown at the border. Without the document in hand we cannot accept the parcel.
- Radio-electronic and high-frequency equipment — walkie-talkies, transmitters, many routers, signal boosters
Permit from the Electromagnetic Compatibility Centre via the Single Window: 5–7 working days, free of charge. With the permit in hand we will carry it.
- Medicines and medical equipment
Permit from the Ministry of Health. Personal-use allowances are in the next block.
- Products of plant and animal origin
Permit from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service. These are the goods most often turned back at the border.
- Rare and endangered animals, and wild medicinal, food and ornamental plants listed in the Red Book
Permit from the State Committee for Nature Protection.
- Ozone-depleting substances and products containing them
Permit from the State Committee for Nature Protection.
- Cultural property — paintings, sculpture, traditional handicrafts
Permit from the competent authority, and it must be declared on the passenger customs declaration.
Allowances and limits
Personal-use allowances. Anything above them is treated by customs as a commercial consignment with its own requirements.
- Medicines for personal useup to 10 items, 5 packs each
Above the allowance you need state registration of the medicine and a Ministry of Health permit.
- Goods intended for commercial activitysole-trader registration
You must be registered as an individual entrepreneur with the right to carry out export-import operations.
What you cannot bring into Malaysia
These are Malaysia's rules, enforced by the Royal Malaysian Customs. The penalties are harsher than in many countries: drug smuggling carries death by hanging.
Banned outright
Prohibited in any quantity, with no exceptions.
- Illicit drugs, including heroin, morphine and marijuana
The penalty for drug smuggling in Malaysia is death by hanging. That applies to the person carrying a parcel, even unaware of its contents.
- Counterfeit banknotes and coins
- Indecent printings, paintings, photographs and other media
- Any device intended to be prejudicial to the interests of peace of Malaysia
- Flick knives and daggers
- Cloth bearing the imprint or duplicate of any verses of the Quran
- Articles resembling syringes
- Broadcast receivers capable of receiving the 68–87 MHz and 108–174 MHz ranges
- Piranha fish
- Turtle eggs
- Cocoa pods, rambutans, pulasans, longans and nam nam fruit from the Philippines and Indonesia
- Intoxicating liquors containing more than 3.46 mg per litre of any lead or copper compound
- Sodium arsenate and poisonous chemicals
- Lightning arresters containing radioactive material
Restricted — permit required
Allowed in, but subject to a permit or certificate obtained in advance. Without the document in hand we cannot accept the parcel.
- Pharmaceutical products and medicines
Registration or notification with the NPRA under the Ministry of Health.
- Arms and ammunition
The exemption covers only personal arms carried by a bona fide traveller. A parcel is not carried by its owner, so the exemption does not extend to it.
- Imitation arms and hand grenades
- Explosives and fireworks
- Bullet-proof vests, steel helmets and other defensive clothing, and safety helmets other than motorcycle helmets
- Live animals and their derivative products — meat, hides, horns — as well as eggs, animal oils and fats
Quarantine clearance from MAQIS.
- Live fish and prawns, and coral whether alive or dead
- Plants and their derivative products
Quarantine clearance from MAQIS. These are the goods most often turned back at the border.
- Soil and live pests — rats, snails, insects
- Dogs and cats
A separate import procedure applies to pets.
- Rice and padi including rice products, sugar, and saccharin and its salts
- Equipment able to be connected to a public telecommunication network
- Radio equipment operating below 3000 GHz — walkie-talkies, transmitters, signal boosters
MCMC approval and SIRIM certification.
- Parabola antennas for outdoor use
- Electric domestic equipment using 50 V or 120 V DC or more
- Drones and unmanned aircraft
Permit from the civil aviation authority, CAAM.
- Cosmetics and personal care products
Notification to the NPRA.
- Household and agricultural pesticides, and toxic or hazardous waste
- Equipment for brewing beer at home
- Batik sarong
Allowances and limits
Duty-free allowances for an individual. Duty and tax apply above them.
- Currencydeclare above US$10,000
Malaysian Ringgit may be imported up to the equivalent of US$10,000. Foreign currency is unrestricted, but sums above US$10,000 must be declared.
Not sure about your item? Email us at info@havokargo.com before you send and we will tell you whether we can take it. What happens to a parcel that is refused at the border is set out in our terms.