# Shipping and customs



## susanw (Oct 4, 2008)

Having just had a conversation about shipping and customs I was told that customs tend to go through almost everything. No problem (although I really don't relish the thought of people rifling through my clothes) except that I have a painting arriving which is a nude (I didn't know that this might be a problem - it is a beautiful pieces of art - nothing lewd) and there may be one book which may be a problem on immorality grounds. The latter was packed inadvertently by the way and certainly not intended to be shipped. So now I am worried that:
1) My expensive painting will not be allowed in - or am I worrying too much here?
2) The main cause for my concern is the book - if customs went through everything and found it what would they do? Obviously they could destroy it/bin it - whatever - but could there be any more serious repercussions?

Anybody know? 

Suzanne


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## flossie (Jun 9, 2008)

susanw said:


> Having just had a conversation about shipping and customs I was told that customs tend to go through almost everything. No problem (although I really don't relish the thought of people rifling through my clothes) except that I have a painting arriving which is a nude (I didn't know that this might be a problem - it is a beautiful pieces of art - nothing lewd) and there may be one book which may be a problem on immorality grounds. The latter was packed inadvertently by the way and certainly not intended to be shipped. So now I am worried that:
> 1) My expensive painting will not be allowed in - or am I worrying too much here?
> 2) The main cause for my concern is the book - if customs went through everything and found it what would they do? Obviously they could destroy it/bin it - whatever - but could there be any more serious repercussions?
> 
> ...


I doubt if you will have a problem. Our container wasn't even touched by customs. Even if yours was, you can buy just about any book you like here (things like Girls of Riyadh and Not Without My Daughter, The Holy Bible, Satanic Verses).


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

Customs do not necessarily go through everything! I shipped one suitcase over and despite the fact that the paperwork said that customs needed to go through it, they never even bothered to open it! They just stamped the paperwork and that was it!

Customs have a right to seize anything that offends the laws of Islam and morality. I doubt though that they will actually read through a whole book to check whether it's morally acceptable or not, though they do have a right to retain it and check it over before releasing it. Customs worldwide do have a list of banned items, which include books, so unless your book is on that list, there should be no problem. 

In regards to your painting, nudity is frowned upon here. I'm sure that it is of artistic taste but I doubt that customs will view it that way. I cannot say what they will do with the painting though! I recently went into a bookshop and was just looking through a magazine. It had an article about breast cancer and a picture of a woman demonstrating how to examine your breasts! Needless to say, someone had gone to a lot of trouble to colour over the picture with a permanent marker! If your painting is wrapped, then maybe they won't really bother to look at it but unfortunately, until your shipment arrives, there is really no way to tell whether they will actually open your boxes! 

I doubt that anyone ever gets arrested for importing a painting; I've never heard of it happening, so I wouldn't really worry too much, especially as it is now out of your hands - wait for the shipment. The worse they could probably do would be to destroy it. If it comes to that, you could always ask whether you could send it back home - not sure whether they will agree but worth a try!


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