What is a reasonable length of time that a shipment to Italy should be held in Customs?

Question

I mailed an International USPS shipment to Italy in October. The shipment is still being held in Italian Customs. What is a reasonable length of time that I should expect the items to be held? Is there a maximum length of time that they can hold an overseas shipment?

Answer 1

More than a month. <*-*>

Answer 2

I get packages from the US fairly frequently and usually don't have much delay in Customs. On a couple of occassions when the declearations were not filled out properly, it took 8 to 10 weeks to get all the paperwork done and pay the proper fees. If all that needs to be done is paying the duty, the recipient should have received instructions on how and where to pay the duty. In this case, the turnaround is usually only a day or two.

Answer 3

I have seen this time changing.  From the US it used to be 2 to 10 days.  Then right before the political elections of May 2006, I would say for since mid 2005 till mid 2006, all of the sudden we have seen that postal packages were held for very long time, 2 to 4 months!!!!!!!   Private shipping packages were going at the old speed (2 days max).  At that time in italy they were just finding out that the global economy might mean stiffer competition.  On power was Berslusconi, therefore weasel ways to counter this problem came out.  It all went back to normality right after the elections.  For unknown reasons it is going back to unreasonably slow.  I have heard that the italian postal service is rediscussing their contract.  This might generate spot strikes of the import brokers of the postal service.  Or maybe the current gov have realized that embargoing the country from the rest of the world works to mend the problems generated by the high Euro.  Because at the end of the day they do have to show in Brux that somehow the trade balance resisted the high Euro.

Answer 4

not sure if I can really answer your question but... thins in Italy take a long time its a bit different to our culture of urgency

Answer 5

I had a AC Milan suit shipped  it sat in Florida for 4 weeks  i guess as long as the government wants

Answer 6

It's not usually that long; things usually pass straight through. But if they decide to do a spot check, and find something they want to know more about (the details of what you are "importing", its value, etc.), it will take longer.

I've had it happen a couple of times with things I bought through e-Bay. Once the seller hadn't clearly stated what the package contained, and recently, for a face cream, they said such products are subject to certain restrictions and they need clarification. They write the addressee and tell him or her to fill out a form or two, which must be returned to them with any additional documentation necessary (invoice, etc.), and perhaps proof of advance payment of customs duty (they tell you how much).

Are you sure your shipment is being held by customs? How do you know? It's strange that they haven't contacted the addressee. If you're sure that's where it is, have the addressee contact them with the shipment details and ask. But this might be difficult in any case, because they usually go by their own processing number they assign to the package when it arrives, not necessarily the one it originally left the sender's country with.

P.S. It's not true that it's "usually" 30 days, as stated by someone above. That's absolutely ridiculous. What I have noticed recently, however, is that shipping times have slowed down considerably since the U.S. raised its rates and did away with surface (economy) post. Now, regular "First-Class Mail International", which should be air mail, moves like a snail, more or less like surface mail once did. Things are arriving after 4-6 weeks. If you want things to arrive after what used to be the usual 4-10 days, you have to have them sent by Priority Mail International which, of course, costs more.

Answer 7

What the addresse's saying? Did they contact him/her?

Unless there's something wrong, the post is waiting for him/her.  

Personally I had shipment to Italy from USA held by customs a couple of time, I got soon a notification from the post stating how much I had to pay and how to. After I did, i got the packages in less than a couple of week...

Answer 8

i sent a xmas package on dec.7th and it arrived on jan 4th. it usually takes @ least a month, although it take only 5-10 days to get to italy from the US

Answer 9

It depends why they are holding it, maybe the receiver needs to pay some taxes/import duties first.

I have heard it can take weeks but I personally have never had to wait.

I think you should phone the customs office to check it.

Answer 10

I believe it is usually 30 days