DHL Express Import Guidelines: Italy

The following commodities are not acceptable for transport by DHL under any circumstances.

This is a result of a policy decision, following the full consideration of Operational, Legal and Risk Management implications.

• Live animals
• Hunting (Animal) trophies, animal parts such as ivory and sharks fin, animal remains, or Animal-by-Products and derived products not intended for human consumption, prohibited for movement by the CITES Convention and/or local law.
• Human remains or ashes
• Bullion (of any precious metal)
• Cash (current legal tender)
• Loose precious and semi-precious stones
• Complete firearms, ammunition, explosives / explosive devices
• Illegal goods, such as counterfeit goods and narcotics

Property, the carriage of which is prohibited by any law, regulation or statute of any federal, state or local government of any country to or through which the shipment may be carried.

If you are in any doubt as to the acceptability of your goods, please contact your DHL representative prior to shipping.

 If you are offered very low prices for branded goods that are sold on shopping websites or via other channels, you can normally assume that the goods are counterfeit. High quality branded goods that are often copied are:

• Shoes
• Clothing
• Bags
• Expensive Watches
• CDs and DVDs
• Perfumes
• Electronics

In order to speed up the customs clearance of shipments imported to Italy, the invoice must be filled in correctly, providing the Italian EORI/ VAT/ Partita IVA and/ or the Fiscal Code/ Codice Fiscale of the importer and the necessary contact details of the consignee (for example: email address or telephone number).

Products subject to sanitary, veterinary and phytosanitary formalities:

• certain type of goods are subject to sanitary inspection before being cleared through customs
• the regulations are issued by the Ministry of Health and the sanitary inspection is always required, regardless of the value or quantity of the goods
• in case the customs authorities require the “Nulla Osta Sanitario” (NOS) Certificate, the release of this document implies an extra tax to be paid to the Ministry of Health

Which type of goods are subject to sanitary inspection?
Example of the main categories of products subject to sanitary inspection:

• Products for human consumption (food products), in liquid form or not
• Medical and pharmaceutical products in general
• Medical devices
• Food products of animal origin (veterinary inspection)
• Products of plant origin, for ex. seeds, herbs (phytosanitary inspection)
• Human hair
• Cosmetics

For moderate quantities – which are verified from time to time by the Ministry of Health and/ or for products destined for laboratory tests and therefore not for human consumption – the sanitary inspection is carried out without the actual Nulla Osta Sanitario and can be done through notification, thus without any further tax to the Ministry of Health

For importation, DHL Express can not only provide counsel on how to speed up and streamline the clearance process, but also offer a varied range of additional dedicated customs services, for an extra cost (for ex. Special Clearance Services for the release of: Nulla Osta Sanitario, Cites, ATA Carnet, etc.)

DHL Express operates in compliance with the current Health regulations.