Mail

Questions

• How do I find out the two-letter abbreviation of a state?
• How do I mail alcohol to the United States?
• How do I mail food to the United States?
• What am I not allowed to mail to Australia?

Answers

How do I find out the two-letter abbreviation of a state?

The United States Postal Service maintains a list of official abbreviations.

• State abbreviations

How do I mail alcohol to the United States?

You can't. According to Publication 52 Hazardous, restricted, & perishable mail of the United States Postal Service, “Intoxicating liquors having 0.5 percent or more alcoholic content are nonmailable. This includes taxable liquors with 3.2 percent or less alcohol, as well as those obtained under a prescription or as a collector's item. The prohibition of the mailing of intoxicating liquors is contained in federal law (18 U.S.C. 1716).”

How do I mail food to the United States?

The rules for mailing food to the United States changed in December 2003. The new ruling required that commercial shippers who wished to send food to the U.S.A. must electronically file a prior notice with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A confirmation of the FDA receipt of prior notice must be presented to Australia Post along with the parcel.

Although this ruling applies to non-commercial shippers as well, a revised Compliance Policy Guide states that "no action" will be taken if a non-commercial individual shipper sends food to either him/herself, another family member or a friend. This means that you may continue to send food products to the United States without completing the prior notice.

This requirement does not apply to food that is made by an individual in his/her home and sent by that individual as a personal gift (for non-business reasons) to an individual in the United States.

• FDA actions on new bioterrorism legislation
• Prior notice of imported foods

What am I not allowed to mail to Australia?

The Australian Government controls the import of certain goods into Australia.

• Importing goods by post [into Australia]
• Prohibited & restricted imports