DHL Express Import Guidelines: South Africa

Shipping guidelines, standard prohibitions and restrictions to consider when sending express shipments to South Africa.

Prohibited Commodities for South Africa

The following commodities are not acceptable for transport by DHL under any circumstances.
This is a result of a policy decision, following the full consideration of Operational, Legal and Risk Management implications.
Animals
Antiques (breakable and/or fragile)
Asbestos
Bullion
Currency
Firearms, parts thereof and ammunition
Furs
Hazardous or combustible materials (as defined in IATA Regulations)
Human remains, including ashes
Jewelry, precious metals and stones
Narcotics (illegal)
Property, the carriage of which is prohibited by any law, regulation or statute of any federal, state or local government of any country to or through which the shipment may be carried.

Standard DHL prohibitions plus the following commodities are not acceptable for transport by DHL South Africa:

Antiques
Asbestos
Dangerous goods, haz. or comb. mats
Furs
Ivory
Pornography
Precious metals & stones

Shipping Commodities – What You Need to Know

Certain commodities are considered as “Non-Document” and need to be accompanied by an invoice and, in some cases, additional customs documentation. Other commodities are considered simply as a “Document” and only require a DHL Waybill to be completed. The following list explains what you need to do in order to ship various commodities.

Document Commodities (Require only DHL Waybill)

Advertising brochures/pamphlets
Airline tickets, blank stock (NI)
Airline tickets, issued/validated
Annual reports
Booklets, brochures (non-adv.)
Books: hardbk/paperbk non-comm. use
Business cards
Calendars
Charts/graphs
Cheques, blank (NI)
Cheques, cancelled (NI)
Cheques, cashier (NI)
Deeds
Diskettes
Documents, general business
Drawings, technical/architect/eng.
Invoices, not blank
Magazines, periodicals, journals
Manuals, technical
Manuscripts
Maps
Microfiche & microfilm
Money orders (NI)
Music, printed or manuscript
Negatives, including x-rays, films
Newspapers
Pamphlets
Passports
Personal mail
Photographs
Photos as part of business reports
Plans/drawings-arch/indust/eng. pur
Price lists
Price tickets for garments
Publication not for public resale
Ship manifest-computer generated
Shipping schedules
Slides
Visa applications

Commodities where you should contact your local Customer Service advisor to clarify shipping requirements

Coffee
Coffee samples
Computer software
Cotton seed
Drugs: non-prescription
Drugs: prescription
Grain samples
Personal effects
Plant products
Plants
Seeds
Ship spares
Shoes
Tea
Textile articles
Tobacco

All other commodities are Non-Document in nature and should be accompanied by a DHL Waybill and an Invoice.

Restrictions

If your shipment exceeds any of the following limits, it may require special handling, please contact your local country customer service department.

Size:	Length 118 cms (46 ins), Width 88 cms (35 ins), Height 120 cms (47 ins)
Weight:	Max. weight per shipment 250.0 kgs (551.0 lbs), Max. weight per piece 50.0 kgs (110.0 lbs)

Worldwide Express Import Guidelines

Import guidelines for more than 220 other countries and territories covered by DHL Express worldwide.

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