Russian Federation

Here is an indication of prohibited items for mailing to Russian Federation. For further information, or further clarification please refer to the Russian Federation Post website

Please also refer to the Universal Postal Union - online prohibitions search tool

You must not send any item addressed to a country in which the item is unlawful or prohibited. When an item is restricted you must comply with the restriction. Prohibitions and restrictions vary from country to country, and can sometimes apply to items which you may think are ordinary. The information below is provided in good faith, but Royal Mail is not responsible for it, and it should be viewed as a guide only. Specific restrictions and changes may be enforced at short notice, so for clarification please contact the destination country's trade, postal, and customs authorities as appropriate. Business customers are strongly recommended to do this.

Please remember that Royal Mail also prohibits and restricts certain categories of items. For more information visit royalmail.com/prohibitedgoods

Prohibited items

Prohibited products are not permitted in the mail under any circumstances.

• Lithium batteries and equipment containing lithium batteries
• Live animals
• All live animals except bees and leeches as well as parasites and predator insects.
• Meat and edible meat offal
• Raw products of animal origin, domestically produced sausages.
• Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates
• Fish, roe, eggs for incubation, fry for breeding fish, reptiles, insects (alive, stuffed, or parts thereof).
• Dairy produce; birds' eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included
• Dairy produce.
• Birds' eggs.
• Natural honey.
• Other products.
• Vegetable products
• Live trees and other plants; bulbs, roots and the like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage
• Seeds, plants and other plant products under control for quarantine.
• Rare species of wild plants listed in the Red Books, including any species of cyclamen and orchid, snowdrops.
• Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers
• Fresh vegetables, berries, plants, roots and tubers.
• Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons
• Fresh fruit.
• Cereals
• Vegetable plaiting materials; vegetable products not elsewhere specified or included
• Poison of vegetable or animal origin.
• Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes
• Honey, pollen, wax, honeycombs.
• Beverages, spirits and vinegar
• Wines of foreign origin and not meeting the brand conditions provided for by law: sour wine, unfit for consumption.
• Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes
• Articles used to smoke opium and hashish.
• Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes
• Radioactive, toxic and psychotropic substances.
• Organic chemicals
• Narcotic substances
• Pharmaceutical products
• Sera.
• Chemical preparations for the treatment of animals.
• Medicaments and preparations with added vitamins.
• Vaccines, stimulating diagnosticums, (bacteriological) cultures, parasitic oxides, toxins.
• Explosives; pyrotechnic products; matches; pyrophoric alloys; certain combustible preparations
• Preparations considered to be combustible or dangerous.
• Gunpowder.
• Explosives.
• Detonators, mercury detonating caps.
• Rockets, fireworks and flares.
• Matches.
• Combustible preparations.
• Photographic or cinematographic products
• Undeveloped photosensitive products.
• Miscellaneous chemical products
• Chemical substances dangerous to human life, animals and birds, designed to combat microbes, diseases and plants.
• Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans
• Newspapers relating to the "snowball" process or other similar process.
• Press products, manuscript and audiovisual materials, miscellaneous documents, etc, containing information that could be detrimental to State security, social order, public morals, property rights, including intellectual property, and other interests of natural and legal persons.
• Printed and audio-visual matters:

- Containing appeals for extremist and terrorist activities or public justification of terrorism;

- Pornographic materials;

- Produced and distributed with breach of customs legislation of Eurasian Economic Commonwealth about elections and referendums;

- Intended for propaganda of Nazi symbols, or symbols alike with Nazi symbols, or symbols, which could be mixed with Nazi symbols;

- Containing information which could do harm to the political or economic interest of the Russian Federation, its national security, health and morality of its citizens.

- Customs often ban scientology literature together with literature and DVDs of other non-recognised religious groups.

• Currency of the Russian Federation, cheques and other currencies of the Bank for External Trade and of the Bank for External Economic Affairs of the Russian Federation. Securities payable to bearer, State bonds and lottery tickets of the Russian Federation.
• Glass and glassware
• Imitation pearls containing lead salts.
• Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; clocks and watches; musical instruments; parts and accessories thereof
• Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof
• Transmitters and transceivers of any power, except "Panasonic" radiotelephones, models KXT 7980, KX-T 9000, KT-T 9050 and KX-T 9080.
• Colour copiers.
• Undeveloped photosensitive products.
• Arms and ammunition; parts and accessories thereof
• Firearms of all kinds and ammunition, swords, cutlasses, bayonets, lances and similar arms.

Here is an indication of restricted items for mailing to Russian Federation. For further information, or further clarification please refer to the Russian Federation Post website

Please refer also to the Universal Postal Union - online prohibitions search tool

You must not send any item addressed to a country in which the item is unlawful or prohibited. When an item is restricted you must comply with the restriction. Prohibitions and restrictions vary from country to country, and can sometimes apply to items which you may think are ordinary. The information above is provided in good faith, but Royal Mail is not responsible for it, and it should be viewed as a guide only. Specific restrictions and changes may be enforced at short notice, so for clarification please contact the destination country's trade, postal, and customs authorities as appropriate. Business customers are strongly recommended to do this.

Please remember that Royal Mail also prohibits and restricts certain categories of items. For more information visit royalmail.com/prohibitedgoods

Restricted items

• Live animals
• Bees, leeches, silkworms, parasites and predator insects
Importation of bees, leeches, silkworms, parasites and predator insects intended for research is permitted between officially recognized institutions.
Postal items containing bees must undergo veterinary inspection and those containing silkworms are subject to inspection by the quarantine service. Depending on the decision of the inspection services, the postal items are either delivered to the addressees, returned to sender or destroyed.
• Meat and edible meat offal
Products of animal origin intended for consumption
Importation of raw products of animal origin, of domestically produced sausages, dairy products, fish, eggs and honey is subject to the quarantine authorisation of the State Committee for the Protection of the Environment of the Russian Federation.
• Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates.
• All products of this type. See Meat and edible meat offal entry above.
• Dairy produce; birds' eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included
• Dairy produce, Birds' eggs, Natural honey, other products. See Meat and edible meat offal entry above.
• Live trees and other plants; bulbs, roots and the like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage
• Seeds, plants and other plant products under control for quarantine
Importation of seeds, plants and other plant products is permitted for scientific research organizations and institutions, subject to the quarantine authorisation of the State Committee for the Protection of the Environment of the Russian Federation.
• Cereals
• All cereals. See Seeds, plants and other plant products under control for quarantine entry above.
• Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants; straw and fodder
• Seeds for sowing. See Seeds, plants and other plant products under control for quarantine entry above.
• Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes
• Natural honey. See Meat and edible meat offal entry above.
• Beverages, spirits and vinegar
• Spirits
Not more than 0.8 of a litre of strong alcoholic beverage (over 22%) and 1.5 litres of wine, the cost of which does not exceed 100 USD, may be sent in a postal parcel.
• Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes
Not more than 200 cigarettes, the cost of which does not exceed 100 USD, may be sent in a postal parcel.
• Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes
• Psychotropic substances
Narcotics
Importation of narcotic and psychotropic substances is permitted only with the authorisation of the Permanent Committee attached to the Ministry of Public Health of the Russian Federation.
• Organic chemicals
Narcotic substances. See Narcotics entry above
• Pharmaceutical products
• Biological preparations.
Biochemical preparations are admitted with the authorisation of the State Inspectorate for Vegetable Quarantine of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Russian Federation.

Medicaments and preparations with added vitamins are admitted with the authorisation of the Ministry of Public Health of the Russian Federation, apart from medicaments approved by the Ministry of Public Health of the Russian Federation.
• Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans
• Foreign currency, "Eurocheque" system forms and guarantee cards for forms.
Only permitted when sent in insured letters

International Tracked & Signed

Please note that where an item has to be collected from the Post Office, only the addressee can collect the item. The addressee must have the necessary paperwork substantiated by proof of identity, unless there are special circumstances where other legal documentation/power of attorney may apply.