What You Cannot Ship to Haiti

Most of what families send to Haiti — food, clothes, household goods, tools, electronics — travels without any problem. The trouble comes from a short list of things that must never go into a barrel or box, and a second list of things that need permission, paperwork or a direct answer from your shipping company before you pack them. This page covers both lists in plain words.

One rule sits above all the details: rules and enforcement change, and the shipping company and Haitian customs have the final word on your shipment. Use this guide to pack sensibly and to know what to ask about — then ask, out loud, before you seal the barrel. A question costs nothing. A forbidden item can cost you the whole shipment, because customs can hold everything around it while the problem is sorted out.

What must never go in a barrel or box?

Never pack anything illegal, anything dangerous, or anything designed to harm. In plain categories:

• Weapons and ammunition, and anything that is plainly a part of a weapon.
• Illegal drugs and anything connected to them.
• Dangerous chemicals, fuel, and anything that can burn, explode or leak poison into other people's goods.
• Live animals and plants without the proper arrangements — a barrel is not a way to move either.
• Cash hidden inside goods. Send money by a proper money service, never inside a barrel.

These are not grey areas and no shipping company can make them acceptable for you. If someone offers to “handle it” for a fee, walk away — that offer is itself the warning. Read how that pattern fits the wider picture in shipping scams: how barrels disappear.

What should you ask about before you pack it?

A second group of items is not automatically forbidden, but it is regulated, fragile, valuable or commonly questioned at inspection — so the rule is ask first, in words, and keep the answer:

• Medicines — especially anything prescribed. Ask what papers should travel with it.
• Electronics and anything with a rechargeable battery. Ask how the company wants it packed and declared.
• Sprays, cleaners and household chemicals that are legal at home but flammable or pressurised.
• Food that can spoil, leak or attract pests on a sea voyage.
• Money-related items, documents and anything irreplaceable — ask whether a parcel route with tracking is the wiser road. Our parcel guide explains that choice.

Companies that field these questions daily include Ayiti Kago Sevis in Atlanta, which ships boxes, barrels, containers and air cargo, and A&E Cargo Shipping in Chicago, which handles parcels, air cargo and general cargo door to door. Asking them is free. Guessing is what gets expensive.

What happens if customs finds a problem item?

At best, delay. Customs can open the shipment, remove or question the item, and hold the rest while it decides — and a held shipment can gather storage charges at the port. At worst, the shipment, or part of it, does not continue at all. Either way, the cost lands on you and your family, not on the person who told you “just pack it, nobody checks.” People do check, and barrels are opened.

Your protection is boring and complete: an honest list of contents, nothing from the never list, a direct question about anything in the ask-first group, and the company's answer kept in writing. The packing method in how to pack a barrel for Haiti builds the contents list into the process so you are never reconstructing it from memory at the worst moment.

How do you pack with a clear conscience and a clear shipment?

Work through your corridor page — South Florida and more US cities cover most senders — pick your company, and run your ask-first items past them before packing day. If you are sending household goods or a mixed load, Kestrel Global Logistics in Miami ships barrels, containers, vehicles, air cargo and general cargo, and can tell you how it treats mixed loads. Keep the documents guide open while you prepare your papers, and check the pack if you want the whole checklist on paper in front of you while you pack.

When you are unsure about an item, use the simplest test there is: would you be comfortable naming it out loud to the shipping company and to a customs officer, with your name attached to the shipment? If the answer is yes and the company says it can travel, pack it and write it on your list. If the answer is no, leave it out — no object is worth a shipment your whole family is waiting for.