Three different categories are often collapsed into one phrase, and separating them saves a great deal of trouble. Prohibited goods cannot be imported into a given country under any circumstances. Restricted goods can be imported, but only with a licence, permit, registration or approval issued before arrival, and usually before shipment. Mode-restricted goods are perfectly legal at the border but cannot travel by a particular mode, or can only travel under specific packing and declaration conditions. A shipment can be entirely lawful and still be refused at the airport because it falls into the third category.
Prohibitions are set nationally and vary more than most shippers expect. Counterfeit and trademark-infringing goods, specimens covered by CITES, hazardous waste, and narcotics are prohibited almost universally, but beyond that the lists diverge. Countries prohibit specific used goods, certain second-hand machinery, particular food or agricultural products for biosecurity reasons, and some publications or media on cultural grounds. There is no global list to consult. The authoritative source is always the destination country's own customs tariff and its associated regulatory annexes, read against the HS code of the product you intend to ship.
Restricted goods are the larger and more commercially important category, and the recurring problem is timing rather than eligibility. Food and beverages, cosmetics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, radio and wireless equipment, products containing encryption, chemicals, fertilisers, toys and children's products, and goods requiring energy-efficiency or safety marking typically need a product registration, an import licence, or a conformity certificate issued by a destination-country authority. Obtaining that approval is frequently a longer process than the transit itself, and it is almost always tied to the importer of record rather than to the shipment. Booking freight before the permit is in hand is the single most common way a compliant product ends up sitting in a bonded area accruing storage charges.
Export controls work from the other direction and are easy to miss because they attach to the shipment's destination and end use, not only to the product. Dual-use items have both civilian and military or security applications, and the categories are broader than the term suggests: certain machine tools, sensors, navigation equipment, high-specification materials, and encryption software all appear on control lists. For these goods, who the end user is and what they will do with the product can determine whether an export licence is required, so the end-use statement your customer provides is a compliance document, not a formality. Sanctions and denied-party screening sit alongside this and apply regardless of the commodity.
Mode restrictions are where dangerous goods rules bite. Lithium batteries, aerosols, magnetised materials, flammable liquids, paints and adhesives, and many cosmetics are legal imports but are classified as dangerous goods for transport. They require correct UN number assignment, packing group determination, approved packaging, marking, labelling and a signed shipper's declaration, and air carriers apply stricter limits than sea carriers on the same substance. A product that moves routinely by sea in a full container may be restricted or forbidden by air in the same quantity. Dangerous goods handling is one of our specialisms, and the classification question is worth settling before the mode is chosen rather than after.
The practical sequence is short. Establish the HS code first, because every regulatory database is organised around it. Check that code against the destination country's tariff and prohibited and restricted lists. Confirm whether the product needs a registration or licence and who must hold it. Then confirm with the carrier or forwarder that the goods are acceptable by the intended mode in the intended packing. If you are unsure at any of those steps, tell us the product, the destination and the mode you have in mind, and we will tell you what we can and cannot carry, and what approvals you will need in place first.
