What you can't ship from Japan to Italy
21 Japan Post import rules · verified · source: Japan Post
Short answer: Japan Post lists 11 item types that cannot be sent to Italy and 10 that can be sent only under conditions. Separately, Japan Post applies 278 carrier-wide rules to every destination, covering dangerous goods and items banned from international mail — perfume, aerosols and lithium batteries among them. Rules last verified against Japan Post on July 25, 2026.
- Prohibited
- 11
- Conditional
- 10
- Carrier-wide rules
- 278
These are the destination rules Japan Post publishes for Italy. They do not repeat the items Japan Post refuses to every country — those are on one shared page, linked below. A rule marked conditional allows the item only when the stated conditions hold; whether your product qualifies is what the ShipMate GO app works out before you book.
Chemicals
2 prohibited · 1 conditional
- Prohibited
Alcoholic beverages containing methyl alcohol, and related products
Methyl alcohol, alcoholic beverages containing methyl alcohol, disinfectants, perfumes, cosmetics, volatile oils, essences, dyes, skin/hair/nail care products, formaldehyde solutions, and all preparations containing formaldehyde are prohibited from shipment to Italy via Regular, Parcel, and EMS services.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 33
- Prohibited
Poisonous Gas / Toxic Gas
Poisonous gases are prohibited from shipment to Italy via regular mail, parcel, and EMS. No exceptions are indicated in the source.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 28
- Conditional
Phosphorus and related substances (matches, pyrophoric alloys, etc.)
Yellow phosphorus, red phosphorus, phosphorus sulfide, nicotine, nicotine chloride, matches, cerium iron, and pyrophoric alloys are conditionally permitted for shipment to Italy. These items are allowed only when authorization has been obtained from the Italian Ministry of Finance.
Conditions and documents
- Authorization obtained from the Italian Ministry of Finance → permitted
Documents: Authorization from the Italian Ministry of Finance
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 28
Food
2 prohibited · 1 conditional
- Prohibited
Harmful / Perishable Food
Spoiled or perishable substances and harmful foodstuffs are prohibited from shipment to Italy via Regular, Parcel, and EMS services. This covers both items that have already deteriorated and food products deemed harmful.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 22
- Prohibited
Meat (fresh, frozen, or preserved chicken and rabbit; other meats over 1 kg)
Fresh, frozen, or preserved chicken and rabbit meat (excluding canned) are prohibited. Meat of other types is also prohibited when the quantity exceeds 1 kilogram.
Details and exceptions
- Meat other than chicken and rabbit, quantity ≤ 1 kilogram → permitted
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 02
- Conditional
Salt
Rock salt, crude salt, sea salt, table salt, and pure sodium chloride may only be shipped to Italy if authorization has been obtained from the Italian Ministry of Finance. All such shipments are conditional on holding this official permit.
Conditions and documents
- Authorization obtained from the Italian Ministry of Finance (大蔵省の許可) → permitted
Documents: Authorization from the Italian Ministry of Finance
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 25
Medicine & supplements
2 conditional
- Conditional
Medicines / Pharmaceuticals
Medicines and pharmaceuticals are conditionally permitted to Italy and must be accompanied by a certificate from an Italian pharmacist or health institute. Patented medicines from countries other than Italy (including sera, vaccines, and insecticides) and dietary products not registered in Italy are only permitted when sent in small quantities for the recipient's treatment or for pharmaceutical, toxicological, chemical experiments, or laboratory analysis.
Conditions and documents
- All medicines → Certificate from an Italian pharmacist or health institute must be attached
- Patented medicines (sera, vaccines, insecticides) from countries other than Italy, or dietary products not registered in Italy — sent in small quantities for the recipient's treatment or for pharmaceutical, toxicological, chemical experiments, or laboratory analysis → permitted
Documents: Certificate from an Italian pharmacist or health institute (イタリアの薬剤医師又は衛生協会の証明書)
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 30
- Conditional
Narcotics
Narcotics such as opium, morphine, and cocaine are conditionally permitted only when sent for medical or scientific purposes, authorised by the Italian health authority (Ministero della Salute), and shipped as insured parcels.
Conditions and documents
- Sent for medical or scientific purposes AND authorised by the Italian health authority (Ministero della Salute) AND shipped as an insured parcel → permitted
Documents: Authorisation from the Italian health authority (Ministero della Salute)
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 29
Plants & animals
1 prohibited · 1 conditional
- Prohibited
Live Animals
Live animals are prohibited from shipment to Italy via regular mail, parcel, and EMS. No live animals of any kind may be sent through these shipping channels.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 01
- Conditional
Plants (including bulbs, seeds, cut flowers, cut branches, fruits, vegetables, timber, and bark)
Plants and plant products — including cultivation plants, bulbs, sowing seeds, cut flowers, cut branches, fruits (excluding pineapple, coconut, durian, banana, and date palm), vegetables, timber, and bark — require a phytosanitary certificate; importation is not permitted without one. An export inspection by a plant protection station and/or an import permit from the destination country may also be required under applicable plant protection law.
Conditions and documents
- Phytosanitary certificate is attached → importation permitted
- No phytosanitary certificate → importation not permitted
- Rice shipped for personal, non-commercial use → prior notification to regional agricultural policy bureau may not be required
- Rice shipped for commercial or non-personal use → prior notification to regional agricultural policy bureau required
Documents: Phytosanitary certificate (植物検疫証明書); Export inspection by plant protection station (植物防疫所による輸出検査) — where required; Import permit from destination country (名宛国の輸入許可証) — where required; Prior notification to regional agricultural policy bureau (地方農政局等への届出) — for rice shipped commercially
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 06
Weapons
1 prohibited · 1 conditional
- Prohibited
Weapons and their parts
Weapons and their component parts are prohibited from shipment to Italy via Regular, Parcel, and EMS services. This prohibition covers the items themselves as well as any associated parts.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 93
- Conditional
Weapons
Hunting, shooting, indoor shooting practice, and defensive weapons, along with their parts and ammunition, are conditionally permitted for import into Italy. Shipment is allowed only when accompanied by an import permit issued by the destination country's Ministry of the Interior (Ministero dell'Interno).
Conditions and documents
- Import permit from the Ministry of the Interior (Ministero dell'Interno) of the destination country is attached → permitted
Documents: Import permit from the Ministry of the Interior of Italy (Ministero dell'Interno)
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 93
Tobacco
1 prohibited
- Prohibited
Tobacco
Tobacco products — including pipe/cut tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes — are prohibited from shipment to Italy via Regular, Parcel, and EMS services.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 24
Other items
4 prohibited · 4 conditional
- Prohibited
Contaminated articles — clothing and bedding dispatched from areas affected by plague, cholera, typhus, or smallpox
Clothing and bedding dispatched from areas where plague, cholera, typhus, or smallpox outbreaks are occurring are prohibited from shipment to Italy. This restriction applies across regular mail, parcel, and EMS services.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 63
- Prohibited
Items contrary to public order and morality
Records, books, newspapers, printed matter, photographs, paintings, and other items deemed contrary to public order and morality are prohibited from shipment to Italy via Regular, Parcel, and EMS services. This prohibition covers all such materials regardless of format or medium.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 49
- Prohibited
Registered ordinary mail containing valuables
Registered ordinary mail items containing coins, banknotes, currency, bearer securities, traveller's cheques, platinum, gold or silver (worked or unworked), pearls, gemstones, or other valuables are prohibited for shipment to Italy via regular mail. This prohibition applies to the enclosure of such items within registered ordinary mail pieces.
- Prohibited
Weighing scales and measuring rulers that violate destination country laws
Weighing scales and measuring rulers that violate Italian law are prohibited for shipment via regular mail, parcel, and EMS. Only instruments that contravene applicable Italian regulations are restricted under this entry.
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 90
- Conditional
Film (Motion Picture Film)
Motion picture film may only be shipped to Italy if intended for personal projection use. Commercial or other non-personal uses are not permitted under this restriction.
Conditions and documents
- intended for personal projection use → permitted
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 37
- Conditional
Lighters and Other Ignition Devices (and Their Parts)
Lighters, other ignition devices, and their parts may only be shipped to Italy with authorization from the destination country's Ministry of Finance. Shipment is conditional upon obtaining this permission.
Conditions and documents
- Authorization obtained from the Ministry of Finance of the destination country (Italy) → permitted
Documents: Authorization from the Italian Ministry of Finance
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 96
- Conditional
Postage Stamps
Postage stamps sent to stamp dealers are permitted only when the shipment is accompanied by a customs declaration form CN22 C1 or customs declaration form CN23 C2/CP3. Shipments not meeting this condition are not permitted.
Conditions and documents
- Addressed to a stamp dealer AND accompanied by customs declaration CN22 C1 or CN23 C2/CP3 → permitted
Documents: Customs declaration CN22 C1 or CN23 C2/CP3
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 97
- Conditional
Wireless telegraph equipment, wireless telephone equipment, radios, televisions, and their parts
Wireless telegraph devices, wireless telephones, radios, televisions, and parts for these items are conditionally permitted for shipment to Italy. Importation is allowed only when the recipient has obtained authorization from the destination country's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications).
Conditions and documents
- Authorization obtained from the destination country's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (Ministère des Postes et Télécommunications) → permitted
Source: Japan Post · HS chapter 85
Applies to every destination, including Italy
Japan Post applies 278 carrier-wide rules to every country on top of the rules above — outright bans on dangerous goods such as perfume, aerosols and lighters, and conditions on items such as lithium batteries.
Not sure about a specific item for Italy?
This page lists Japan Post's rules. The ShipMate GO app checks your actual item against them, asks the one or two questions a conditional rule needs, and tells you the outcome before anything is charged. Sending a parcel from Japan? Booking is free and you pay once, after weighing. Shopping from abroad with Shop for Me? Anything that can't ship is dropped from your order before you pay for the goods.
Common questions
- What can't I ship from Japan to Italy?
- Japan Post's import rules for Italy prohibit 11 item types, including Poisonous Gas / Toxic Gas; Tobacco; Weighing scales and measuring rulers that violate destination country laws; Contaminated articles — clothing and bedding dispatched from areas affected by plague, cholera, typhus, or smallpox; Items contrary to public order and morality; Alcoholic beverages containing methyl alcohol, and related products; Registered ordinary mail containing valuables; Live Animals; and 3 more. On top of these, Japan Post refuses dangerous goods such as perfume, aerosols and loose lithium batteries to every destination.
- Which items can be shipped to Italy only under conditions?
- 10 item types are allowed only when Japan Post's stated conditions are met — for example Film (Motion Picture Film); Lighters and Other Ignition Devices (and Their Parts); Phosphorus and related substances (matches, pyrophoric alloys, etc.); Medicines / Pharmaceuticals; Salt; Plants (including bulbs, seeds, cut flowers, cut branches, fruits, vegetables, timber, and bark); Weapons; Narcotics; and 2 more. Whether a specific product qualifies depends on the item, which is what the ShipMate GO app checks before you book.
- Does an item that isn't listed here ship freely to Italy?
- Not necessarily. This page lists the import rules Japan Post publishes for Italy; an item that isn't named has no specific rule here, but it may still fall under Japan Post's carrier-wide bans or a general category such as food or medicine. Check the exact item in the ShipMate GO app, which reads these rules live and asks the follow-up questions a conditional rule needs.