Aramex Global Shopper (AGS) is an address-forwarding service that allows South Africans to buy items from many other countries, but it has sent out a reminder this holiday season not to ship cannabis and many other prohibited items.
In an email sent to customers, the service posits that international law is a tricky thing and, to keep everyone safe, certain items are prohibited.
“While Cannabis has been legalized in a limited number of countries, the product remains illegal in most countries. Please note that if you order Cannabis for delivery through AGS, we are required to report the same to the respective authorities and will not deliver the shipment,” the email reads.
AGS goes on to prompt customers to check out the full list of prohibited items. The email doesn’t provide a direct link to this list but we tracked it down and it can be found here in PDF form.
“We always try to make your shopping experience simpler and to keep it that way, we recommend you avoid shipping products that are on our list of Unacceptable Materials. Otherwise, shipments containing products that are prohibited by laws in the country of origin or destination are held by Custom Authorities,” reads the introduction.
Interestingly the document is broken down into items that are prohibited altogether, and then items which are prohibited depending on their origin.
Seemingly innocuous things, such as telescopes from the UAE and car keys from the UK, are banned. Again this all comes back to the complex web of laws that a company like AGS has to deal with when moving items between multiple countries.
Other restrictions make more sense with the likes of weaponry, flammable liquids, items related to gambling and, as mentioned right at the top, drugs all banned too.
We’ve been using Aramex Global Shopper as private customers for years now and never had a problem, but then again our orders have been for very tame items such as books from the US Amazon store.
If the prohibited items list PDF doesn’t answer your question about shipping an item it’s best to contact AGS directly instead of risking problems with delivery during the busy holiday season.
[Image – AGS]
