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Shipping to Switzerland: what is not allowed

Switzerland is outside the EU with its own customs regime. Most personal parcels are allowed but are cleared through Swiss customs with VAT and possible duty.

Not accepted for Switzerland

  • Counterfeit goods and endangered species products
  • Weapons and certain knives
  • Meat and dairy products without the required permits
  • Narcotics and controlled substances

Allowed, with conditions

  • Medicines — personal quantity with a prescription (Swissmedic rules)
  • Commercially packaged food — declare
  • Supplements and cosmetics — declare

Switzerland is NOT in the EU, so EU thresholds do not apply.

Swiss VAT (around 8.1%) applies; duty can be weight-based; the recipient pays charges before delivery.

Indian and Kerala food to Switzerland, 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
  • Parcels routed through an EU country before reaching Norway or Switzerland, which are assessed on entry to the EU as well as on arrival

Do not send to Switzerland

  • Meat and meat products, including beef pickle
  • Milk and dairy — ghee, milk powder and milk-based sweets
  • Fish and prawn pickle beyond small personal amounts
  • Honey, eggs, fresh fruit, vegetables and plants

Norway and Switzerland are outside the EU but apply animal-product import rules of the same shape, so treat meat and dairy as refused.

On the Switzerland route in particular

Swiss customs applies duty and VAT on relatively low values, so declare accurately - the recipient usually settles it before delivery.

Normal transit on this route is 4 to 6 business days from our warehouse in Kerala.

Quick answers: shipping from India to Switzerland

What can I not send from India to Switzerland?

Switzerland does not accept: counterfeit goods and endangered species products; weapons and certain knives; meat and dairy products without the required permits; narcotics and controlled substances. 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 Switzerland?

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

Can I send Indian food to Switzerland?

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, including beef pickle; milk and dairy.

How long does a parcel from India to Switzerland take?

Normal transit on this route is 4 to 6 business days from our warehouse in Kerala.

Will I pay customs duty or tax in Switzerland?

Swiss VAT (around 8.1%) applies; duty can be weight-based; the recipient pays charges 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 Switzerland 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