Shipping Regulations You Should Know

Prohibited & Restricted Items

Not everything is allowed to cross the U.S. border, and the list is longer than most first-time shippers expect. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) blocks some goods outright; others are "restricted," meaning they can enter only with the right permit or license from the agency that regulates them.

Categories that come up most often for freight shipments:

• Outright prohibited: counterfeit or trademark-infringing goods, most wildlife and wildlife products, and undeclared biological materials
• Needs a permit: plants, seeds, and certain foods (USDA), biological specimens (USDA/CDC), and vehicles that don't meet EPA emissions or DOT safety standards
• Origin-restricted: gold sourced from a small number of sanctioned countries, and — since the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act — goods linked to the Xinjiang region of China, which CBP presumes were made with forced labor unless the importer proves otherwise

We check the product category and country of origin against this list before a shipment moves, not after it's already stuck at a port.

Export Compliance & Sanctioned Destinations

Shipping out of the U.S. carries its own rulebook, separate from import rules. The Commerce Department's Export Administration Regulations (EAR) govern where certain goods and technology are legally allowed to go, and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) maintains full trade embargoes against a small number of countries.

As of 2026, comprehensive OFAC embargoes remain in force for Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, among others — Syria's embargo was eased in mid-2025, though a license is still required for most controlled goods. Shipments to an embargoed destination, or to anyone on OFAC's restricted-parties lists, generally cannot move without a specific license, regardless of what's being shipped.

We screen international shipments against these lists as a standard part of processing, before a shipment is booked.

Lithium Batteries & Hazmat

Lithium batteries are the dangerous-goods category that trips up the most shippers, mostly because so many everyday products contain one. Under the current IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (67th edition, mandatory since January 2026), standalone lithium-ion batteries shipped by air must be at 30% state of charge or less, travel on cargo aircraft only, and carry the correct UN classification number, Class 9 hazmat label, and dangerous goods declaration. Batteries packed alongside equipment now fall under the same charge limit.

Miss any one of those requirements and the shipment gets rejected at the sort facility — it doesn't just arrive late. If your shipment includes devices with lithium batteries (laptops, power tools, medical equipment), flag it when you request a quote so we can confirm the right classification and paperwork before it's handed to a carrier.

Customs Paperwork

Most customs delays come down to missing or inconsistent documentation rather than the shipment itself. We put together a full breakdown of what's typically required — commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, and more — in our guide to customs clearance.

Read the Customs Documentation Guide