1. Introduction
Customs legislation apply generally to goods imported or exported by Post in the same way as they apply to imports and exports by other means, except where this legistlation has been adapted to meet the special circumstances of postal traffic.

2. Modifications of customs legislation for postal packages
For goods imported by post vis a vis goods imported by other means of transport, the following modifications apply:

• entry needs to be made where the Director so requires;
• where entry is not required, the goods are liable to duty at the time when the duty is assessed by Customs;
• a notice of seizure is to be sent to the addressees of any seized packet whether or not he/she is the owner.

3. Documentation - Clearance procedure
Packages containing goods free of duty and VAT and private packages containing dutiable goods on which the duty is less than €3,42 may be delivered immediately, provided that no import prohibitions or restrictions apply.

Private packages of any value and trade packages of a value not exceeding €1.000 may be cleared for home use with the simplified procedure.

Trade packages of a value exceeding €1.000, packages containing goods entitled to conditional relief or drawback and packages containing goods for warehousing, transit or temporary importation should be cleared under the normal clearance procedure on Form SAD or C.104E (for temporary importations).

The Post Office has the option of:

• returning to the sender any postal packages not delivered within two months from the date of issue of a notice of arrival;
• destroying them; or
• abandoning them to Customs.

Postal packages and their contents which were imported contrary to customs or other legislation are treated in a similar manner as seized goods and are forwarded to the Republic's Store for sale or disposal otherwise.

Goods imported by private couriers are cleared under a special simplified procedure.