Before you pack anything

Furniture, clothing, books, kitchenware, bedding, toys, pictures, and tools with no fuel in them. It is the overwhelming majority of what is in a house and it moves on a described inventory and a relief claim.

The customs relief that lets you import used household goods without paying duty when you are genuinely moving your home. It is claimed against the inventory plus evidence of both ends of the move.

Relief applies to goods you have owned and used. Something bought specifically for the move generally sits outside it, and describing it as old is exactly what turns a routine clearance into an inspection.

Specific enough that a customs officer can tell what each line is. "Four boxes, kitchen" is not a description; on several of our routes it is the commonest cause of a shipment being opened.

It depends entirely on the destination. Alcohol in a household shipment is a declared quantity in one country, a licensed import in another, and refused in a third. Ask before packing it rather than after.

Declarable almost everywhere and controlled in many places, with lower permitted quantities than people assume. Carry what you personally need with the prescription and ask your own doctor about anything you depend on.

Frequently. Drones are separately regulated in most countries and transmitting equipment is licensed in many. It is your licence to obtain, and we need to know so the entry matches the contents.

Kitchen and work tools are ordinarily fine. Certain blade types are restricted in specific countries, and air weapons are licensed almost everywhere. Both are flagged at survey.

Because protected species turn up as components. Ivory stringing, tortoiseshell inlay, certain rosewood veneers and coral detailing are common in nineteenth and early twentieth-century pieces and were never catalogued as anything.

Sometimes, and not automatically, and the rules differ by country and by material. It is precisely the kind of question that needs the proper authority rather than a removals firm — we will tell you that rather than guess.

Then the risk is seizure of the item and disruption to everything travelling with it. The permit route is slow and it is enormously better than the alternative.

At the survey, before anything is booked. It carries the longest lead time on the ladder by a wide margin, and it is the one thing that can genuinely reset a moving timetable.

Because it is not part of a household shipment. It is a separate import with its own entry, its own registration and frequently its own tax position, and a firm treating it as cargo is doing you no favours.

We will describe the kind of firm to look for — a vehicle shipping specialist with experience of your destination. We do not take referral fees and we do not maintain a preferred list.

We decline them. Animals need health certification, approved routes and handling that a removals crew is not equipped to provide, and pet relocation is a real trade with real practitioners.

Also declined, and on several destinations they would be refused anyway. Soil and seeds are among the strictest categories in any biosecurity regime.

Prohibited weapons, counterfeit goods, certain publications and media depending on the destination, some foodstuffs, and anything already unlawful to possess. No permit or payment changes any of it.

Meat, dairy, seeds and plant products are restricted or refused in many places, and store-cupboard items travel badly regardless. Emptying the cupboards before the move is nearly always the right answer.

That is a rule before it is a customs question. Mowers, strimmers, generators and gas barbecues are drained and separated at the survey, not at the tailgate.

It is a matter between you and the authority that seized it, and it delays everything travelling alongside. This is the argument for reading the refused list before packing rather than after.

No. We prepare the entries that come from the inventory, working with our appointed agent. We are not a broker, not a permit agency and not a source of legal advice, and we will say so rather than improvise.

We prepare everything derived from the inventory — the described list, the export declaration, the import entry and the relief claim. Documents attached to you as a person cannot be obtained on your behalf.

On every international enquiry. A shared container is handled several more times by people who never saw your house; a sole-use one is sealed at your door. We state both rather than defaulting.

Tell us as soon as you notice and put it in writing within the period the terms set out. Keep the item and its packaging so both can be examined.