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Shipping to Belgium: what is not allowed

Belgium allows most personal parcels; the EU meat and dairy ban applies and Belgian import VAT (21%) is charged on goods.

Not accepted for Belgium

  • Meat, milk, and dairy products from outside the EU
  • Protected plants and seeds without certificates
  • Counterfeit goods and endangered species products
  • Weapons and certain knives

Allowed, with conditions

  • Medicines — personal quantity with a prescription
  • Commercially packaged food (no meat/dairy) — declare
  • Supplements and cosmetics — declare

Import VAT (21%) applies; since 1 July 2026 parcels up to €150 pay a €3 customs duty per item category, and normal duty applies above €150.

The recipient may need to pay VAT/duty before delivery.

Indian and Kerala food to Belgium, item by item

Customs does not care whether food is Indian. It cares about three things: animal origin — meat, fish, dairy, egg; plant and seed material — raw grain, seeds, nuts, fresh produce; and everything else, sealed and commercially packaged, which is broadly fine when it is declared accurately. Almost every Kerala snack sits in the third group. Almost every refusal sits in the first two.

Usually fine, sealed and declared

  • Nendran and banana chips, tapioca chips, jackfruit chips
  • Murukku, achappam, kuzhalappam, mixture, pakkavada
  • Sharkara varatti and jaggery-coated snacks
  • Pappadam
  • Kerala halwa and commercially packaged sweets with no dairy
  • Vegetarian pickles — mango, lemon, garlic, puli inji
  • Chammanthi podi, idli and dosa podi, sambar and curry powders, masala
  • Cardamom, black pepper, cloves and other dry Malabar spices
  • Tea and coffee powder

Send with care

  • Anything homemade, loose-packed or relabelled
  • Payasam, halwa and dessert mixes, which often contain milk powder and are then treated as dairy rather than as a snack
  • Matta rice and any raw grain, pulse, seed or raw nut — this is plant material, not groceries, and it is judged as such
  • Coconut oil and liquid pickles, which are allowed but leak; tell us on the pre-alert so we pack them separately
  • Anything whose ingredients list is only in Malayalam — EU labelling expectations are the reason an otherwise fine snack gets questioned

Do not send to Belgium

  • Meat and meat products — beef pickle is the one people are surprised by
  • Milk and dairy — ghee, milk powder, milk-based sweets and dairy-containing mixes
  • Fish and prawn pickle and other fishery products beyond small personal amounts
  • Honey, eggs and fresh fruit, vegetables and plants

The EU does not allow personal imports of meat or dairy from outside the EU. That single rule decides most Kerala food parcels into Europe: the snacks go, the ghee and the beef pickle do not. Limited amounts of fishery products are treated differently from meat.

On the Belgium route in particular

EU rules apply — the meat and dairy ban and import VAT on nearly everything. Note that loose stones, bullion and coins are refused by air couriers to every destination, including this one; finished jewellery travels as a declared valuable.

Normal transit on this route is 4 to 12 business days from our warehouse in Kerala.

Quick answers: shipping from India to Belgium

What can I not send from India to Belgium?

Belgium does not accept: meat, milk, and dairy products from outside the EU; protected plants and seeds without certificates; counterfeit goods and endangered species products; weapons and certain knives. On every route, we also cannot carry anything with a battery, mobile phones and laptops, real gold, silver or diamond jewellery, or anything flammable or pressurised such as perfume, aerosols and nail polish.

Can I send medicines from India to Belgium?

Yes, within limits: medicines — personal quantity with a prescription. Controlled and psychotropic medicines need clearance first, so ask us before you order them.

Can I send Indian food to Belgium?

Sealed, commercially packaged food usually goes, declared accurately: nendran and banana chips, tapioca chips, jackfruit chips; murukku, achappam, kuzhalappam, mixture, pakkavada; sharkara varatti and jaggery-coated snacks. Do not send: meat and meat products; milk and dairy.

How long does a parcel from India to Belgium take?

Normal transit on this route is 4 to 12 business days from our warehouse in Kerala.

Will I pay customs duty or tax in Belgium?

Import VAT (21%) applies; since 1 July 2026 parcels up to €150 pay a €3 customs duty per item category, and normal duty applies above €150. The recipient may need to pay VAT/duty before delivery.

Never accepted, wherever you are

These are refused by the airlines, by Indian export rules or by us, so they cannot leave our warehouse for any destination.

Prohibited, restricted and dangerous goods, in one line each. Prohibited means it cannot be sent at all. Restricted means it can travel, but only under conditions your country sets, such as a personal quantity, a prescription or a declaration; those are listed under each destination. Dangerous goods are what airlines treat as a hazard on board: anything flammable, corrosive or pressurised. We also cannot ship anything with a battery, or anything that burns, such as agarbatti and camphor.

  • Cash, currency, cheques, bullion, and loose precious stones
  • Narcotics, illegal drugs, and psychotropic substances
  • Firearms, ammunition, explosives, fireworks, and weapons (including replicas)
  • Anything with a battery, including power banks, battery-operated toys and watches
  • Mobile phones and laptops
  • Real gold, silver and diamond jewellery
  • Flammable, corrosive, or pressurised goods — perfumes/deodorant sprays, aerosols, nail polish and remover, paints, thinners, fuel, gas cylinders, lighters, and matches
  • Anything that burns: agarbatti (incense sticks), dhoop, camphor, sambrani and candles
  • Live animals, plants, seeds, soil, and products of endangered species (CITES)
  • Pornographic, obscene, or seditious material
  • Counterfeit goods and pirated media
  • Human remains, biological samples, and infectious substances
  • Radioactive and toxic substances

Medicines and supplements are the one thing to check before you order. They are not banned — almost every destination lets a personal quantity through in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription. What changes from country to country is how much counts as personal, whose name the prescription has to be in, and which ingredients need clearance from that country's health authority first.

The rule for Belgium is under Allowed, with conditions above. Controlled and psychotropic medicines are a separate case: several countries want their own health authority to clear the parcel first, so check with us before you order rather than after it arrives with us.

If you are not sure about something, ask on WhatsApp before you order it.

The same list, talked through

Three and a half minutes on what cannot leave India, what your own country will not let in, and the things that travel perfectly well once the paperwork is right.

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What You Can and Can't Ship From India (Full List)

Rules for other destinations