What you cannot ship

Three quite different things all get called "not allowed", and they have different answers. Some goods no shipper will carry at all. Some are perfectly fine but need a permit. And some are restricted by the country you are sending to, which is nobody's decision at this end.

Refused in sea freight generally

• Anything needing refrigeration. A barrel is not temperature controlled and is at sea for weeks. Chilled and frozen goods do not travel this way.
• Flammables, aerosols under pressure, and corrosives. Standard dangerous-goods restrictions apply to sea freight.
• Batteries beyond small quantities, which are regulated separately.

Allowed, but needs a permit or certificate

This is the category that catches people, because the goods themselves are so ordinary — the sort of thing that goes into a shopping basket without a second thought. Meat, dairy and fresh produce are commonly controlled on import across the region, usually needing an agricultural permit or a phytosanitary certificate rather than being banned outright. The requirement belongs to the receiving country, which in practice means the person collecting is the one who has to deal with it.

Quantity changes what it is

A barrel entered as personal effects is meant for a household. Send enough of any one thing that it starts to look like stock for a shop, and it can be treated as a commercial import instead — different paperwork, different charges — even though that was never the intention. Worth a thought before packing twenty of anything.