What You Can't Send to the USA from the UK (2026 Restricted Items List)

The short answer

The most commonly prohibited or restricted items when shipping from the UK to the USA are: alcohol, fresh food, prescription medicines, perfume in aerosol form, loose lithium batteries, plants and seeds, ivory and other CITES-listed materials, firearms and weapons, and most vape products. Most consumer shipping platforms — including TradeWind — block these at the booking stage to prevent customs seizures and wasted labels.

This guide walks through each category, the reason it’s restricted, and what (if anything) you can do to ship a similar item legally.

Why the rules exist

US imports are regulated by multiple agencies: US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) handles duties and inspections, the FDA handles food, drugs and cosmetics, the USDA handles plants, animal products and agricultural items, the ATF handles firearms and explosives, and the EPA handles pesticides and chemicals. Every restricted item is restricted by at least one of these agencies, often more than one.

The penalties for shipping prohibited items range from parcel seizure (most common) to civil penalties (for repeat offenders or commercial shippers) to criminal prosecution (rare, reserved for serious cases).

Most carriers screen at multiple points: at the booking platform, at the UK depot, at UK export, at US arrival. Items spotted at any stage are pulled. The earlier in the chain you’re stopped, the cheaper the outcome — which is why platforms like TradeWind block at booking rather than letting you waste a label.

Category 1: Food and edible goods

Allowed (commercially packaged, sealed):

• Chocolate, sweets, biscuits, crisps
• Tea and coffee (sealed)
• Sealed condiments under 100ml (jams, sauces)
• Dry pasta, rice, dried herbs and spices
• Tinned non-meat goods

Restricted or prohibited:

• Fresh fruit and vegetables (USDA-prohibited)
• Fresh or cured meat including jerky, salami, cured ham (FDA + USDA)
• Dairy products (cheese, butter, fresh milk, yoghurt) — soft cheeses banned, hard cheeses heavily restricted
• Eggs in any form
• Fresh herbs
• Homemade food in any form
• Anything containing live cultures, raw ingredients, or seeds
• Honey (USDA restrictions, varies by state)

Examples:

• A box of Cadbury chocolate from Tesco — fine
• A homemade Christmas cake — prohibited
• A jar of Marmite (under 100ml, sealed) — usually fine
• A bag of fresh apples — prohibited
• A wheel of Stilton cheese — prohibited
• A tin of Heinz baked beans — usually fine
• A box of British sausages — prohibited

When in doubt: if it’s commercially packaged, dry, and shelf-stable, it’s probably fine. If it’s fresh, homemade, contains meat or dairy, or has seeds, it’s probably not.

Category 2: Alcohol

The rule: alcohol cannot be shipped to the USA from the UK on standard consumer shipping services. Period.

This is not a TradeWind policy — it’s a regulatory reality. To import alcohol into the US legally you need:

• A US importer’s licence
• State-specific licences in every destination state (alcohol regulation is state-level, not federal)
• ATF authorisation for spirits
• Age verification on delivery (typically photo ID, often signature required)

Standard residential delivery services (UPS, FedEx, DHL, Royal Mail) will not accept alcohol from non-licensed shippers. If you do declare it and it slips through, the parcel will be seized at US customs.

The workaround: use a US-based gifting service. Companies like ReserveBar, Drizly, and 1-800-Flowers (for wine) can deliver alcohol within the US from US-based stock. Order online from the UK, pay in GBP, the alcohol ships domestically inside the US. This is the only legal way to “send alcohol to America from the UK”.

Category 3: Batteries

Lithium battery regulations changed substantially in the late 2010s after a series of cargo aircraft incidents. The rules now:

The practical rule: if the battery is inside a finished device and the device is in retail packaging, you can usually ship it. If the battery is separate, you usually can’t via consumer shipping.

For ecommerce sellers regularly shipping battery-powered devices (electronics, vapes, tools), you’ll need a “Section II” lithium battery shipper agreement with your carrier. TradeWind supports this on the B2B platform but not on guest checkout.

Category 4: Perfume and aerosols

Aerosols are regulated as hazardous goods on air freight. This covers:

• Aerosol perfume and body spray
• Hairspray, deodorant in aerosol form
• Anything in a pressurised can

Non-aerosol fragrance is more nuanced:

• Solid perfume — usually fine
• Roll-on or stick fragrance — usually fine
• Eau de toilette in glass bottle, under 100ml — sometimes allowed with hazmat documentation
• Eau de toilette in glass bottle, over 100ml — restricted on most consumer services

Most consumer shipping platforms (including TradeWind) block perfume entirely at booking to avoid edge cases. If you need to ship fragrance commercially, you need a hazardous-goods-certified service like UPS Specialty Services or DHL’s regulated freight option.

Category 5: Medicines

Prescription medicines: prohibited for personal importation by US recipients. The FDA does not permit private individuals to receive prescription drugs from international sources, even if the medicine is identical to a US-approved version.

This catches a surprising number of senders: a UK grandparent wanting to send their American grandchild’s asthma inhaler, a UK shopper sending paracetamol they got cheaper at Boots, a buyer purchasing UK-licensed supplements that haven’t been FDA-approved. All prohibited.

Over-the-counter medicines: technically allowed in personal-use quantities (3-month supply for a single named individual) but routinely scrutinised. The recipient may need to provide medical documentation. For ecommerce sellers, OTC medicines should be considered restricted — the friction is too high.

Supplements and vitamins: in a grey zone. UK-licensed supplements may not have FDA approval. Some categories (CBD, certain herbal supplements) are heavily restricted or prohibited. Check FDA guidance per product before listing.

Medical devices: regulated by the FDA and require pre-clearance for many categories. Glasses, contact lenses, blood pressure monitors all have specific rules.

Category 6: Plants, seeds, and agricultural goods

USDA prohibits or restricts:

• Live plants (almost all prohibited without USDA permits)
• Cut flowers (allowed with phytosanitary certificate — not viable for consumer shipping)
• Seeds (almost all prohibited; some allowed with USDA import permit)
• Bulbs and tubers (heavily restricted)
• Soil (prohibited)
• Hay, straw, or any agricultural packing material
• Wood products without ISPM-15 treatment markings

This catches gardeners sending seed packets to family members in the US, hobbyists sending plant cuttings, and ecommerce sellers shipping dried botanicals.

Allowed: dried botanicals that have been heat-treated and commercially processed (potpourri, dried-flower craft kits), provided they’re sealed and labelled.

Category 7: Firearms, ammunition, and weapons

Prohibited on UK→USA consumer shipping:

• Firearms of any kind, including replicas
• Ammunition, gunpowder, primers
• Knives over a certain blade length (varies by state)
• Pepper spray and self-defence sprays
• Imitation/replica weapons that could be mistaken for real ones
• Crossbows and high-powered air rifles
• Stun guns and tasers

This is non-negotiable across every consumer carrier. Even kitchen knives over a certain length can be flagged, depending on the destination state. Specialist firearms shipping requires ATF-authorised dealers and is not available to private senders.

Category 8: CITES-listed materials

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) restricts trade in materials from endangered species. Common items affected:

• Ivory (any kind, including antique)
• Tortoiseshell
• Coral
• Some exotic woods (rosewood, certain mahoganies)
• Reptile skin products (snakeskin, alligator)
• Some bone, fur, and feather items

Even antique items containing CITES-listed materials require permits to import. The penalties are substantial — this is one area where parcel seizure and prosecution are real risks.

Category 9: Vape products

Vape regulation in the US has tightened significantly since 2020. As of 2026:

• Vape devices and pods cannot be shipped through USPS at all (PACT Act prohibition)
• Private carriers (UPS, FedEx) have also blocked vape products on most consumer routings
• Specialist vape-licensed shippers exist but require business agreements

For UK vape retailers wanting to ship to US consumers: this market is effectively closed via consumer shipping. The PACT Act treats all vape products like cigarettes for import purposes.

Category 10: Currency and high-value items

Cash: not prohibited but flagged at over $10,000. Sending physical cash internationally is bad practice for many reasons; use bank transfer instead.

High-value items (over £1,000): not prohibited but require:

• Detailed commercial invoice with itemised values
• Often insurance documentation
• Higher likelihood of customs inspection
• Possible export licensing for cultural items (artwork over a certain age, antiquities)

What TradeWind blocks at booking

The TradeWind /ship flow blocks the following at the point of booking:

• All food described as fresh, raw, homemade, or containing meat/dairy/eggs
• All alcohol
• Loose batteries (spare lithium, lead-acid)
• Aerosol products including perfume sprays
• Prescription medicines
• Live plants, seeds, soil
• Firearms, ammunition, weapons
• CITES-listed materials (ivory, etc.)
• Vape products
• Cash and bearer instruments

For items in grey areas (battery-powered devices, certain cosmetics, OTC medicines in small quantities), the booking form prompts for additional details and routes the parcel to an appropriate service with the right declarations.

The benefit: you don’t waste £15 on a label that will be seized. The downside: occasionally a legitimate item gets blocked and you have to provide extra information. Better that than a customs seizure.

What happens if you ship a restricted item anyway

The escalation path:

1. Caught at booking (best case): label not issued, no money spent, redirect to a legal option
2. Caught at UK depot: parcel returned to sender, label refunded minus admin fee (usually £5)
3. Caught at UK export: parcel returned, label not refunded
4. Caught at US arrival: parcel seized, no refund, no return. Goods forfeit
5. Caught at US final mile: parcel seized or destroyed, depending on agency. Sender may face penalties

The first three are inconvenient but recoverable. The last two cost you the parcel value plus the shipping. For repeat offenders (especially commercial shippers), CBP may flag the sender for additional scrutiny on all future shipments.

The bottom line

Most UK→USA shipments are completely fine. The restrictions cover specific high-risk categories, and once you know the list, you avoid the traps. The big ones to remember:

• Alcohol: use a US-based gifting service, not international shipping
• Food: commercial dry goods are usually fine, fresh/homemade is not
• Medicines: don’t send prescription items at all; OTC only in personal-use quantities
• Batteries: in devices is usually fine, loose is usually not
• Perfume: solid yes, aerosol no
• Plants/seeds: almost always prohibited

For most ecommerce sellers and personal shippers, the TradeWind /ship flow handles the screening for you — you describe the items, the platform checks them against the restricted list, and you proceed with confidence that what you book will actually arrive. For business volume, the B2B platform applies the same checks across catalogue uploads.

For more on the customs paperwork side, see our guides to filling in a commercial invoice and HS codes for UK to USA shipping.