Thread: USA postal restrictions ??

I attempted to send a piece of Jewellery in a hand made wooden box, same thing was rejected, had to replace the box with one of those cheap crappy ones.

I sent some carvings to New York just 2 months ago - didn't know there were any changes in the wind!

Originally Posted by TTIT

I sent some carvings to New York just 2 months ago - didn't know there were any changes in the wind!

Me neither I was just trying find out a costing of sending four pieces over. The funny thing is I have been to the USPS website and looked over as many regulations I can find and so far cant find any so specific as mentioned in Oz postal service. So I'm darned if I know whats going on

Theres some evidence if its 'art' and therefore 'finished' its allowable. Now its the question is do I want to take the punt.

To date I've not had an issue, but that could be just good luck.

So far no issue where an individual piece has been purchased or gifted here and carried into the US by a passenger in their luggage. Pieces that have an obvious finish on them and no bark still left on them probably helps there. But, it's up to the individual doing the inspection at the terminal, so there are no guarantees there. They might just be having a grumpy day!

I've also sent individual pieces via post and all of them have got through OK. Don't describe the piece as wooden, just bowl or vase, etc., to reduce that chance of closer scrutiny. Going in your favour are the volume of items going through their inbound sorting centres.

My understanding is that their focus is on plant based items that originate from China and bulk untreated lumber/timber imports from elsewhere, and that you would just be unlucky if an individual piece of woodturning got caught up in their net beyond that.

Besides the hassle of going through their permit system, I don't imagine having finished pieces fumigated on arrival would do the finish on them much good.