Small packets

General Conditions

  1. Small packets are intended to afford facilities for the transmission of small articles of merchandise in the letter mails; and they may be sent to any country found in the Foreign Postage Rates page.
  2. Small Packets may be registered but not insured.
  3. Small Packets may contain articles liable to Customs duty ; a special green label obtainable at any Post Office giving particulars in detail of the contents for Customs purposes must be affixed on the address side of each packet ; and if addressed to a country necessitating the use of one or more Customs Declarations, the appropriate Declaration or Declarations must in addition, either be securely fastened to the outside of the article by a string tied crosswise or enclosed in the packet. In the latter case, only the upper part of the green label should be affixed to the article. When addressed to a country not requiring the use of Customs Declarations, e.g., Great Britain and Tunis, the green label only need be filled up.
    • Articles of glass or other fragile objects must be packed in a box of metal, wood, or strong cardboard filled with paper, wood shavings or other protective material of a similar nature to prevent any friction or knocks between the objects themselves or between the objects and the sides of the box.
    • Liquids, oils, and substances which easily liquefy should be enclosed in hermetically sealed containers. Each such container should be placed in a special box of metal, tough wood or strong corrugated cardboard containing a sufficient quantity of sawdust, cotton wool, or spongy material to absorb the liquid in case the container breaks. The lid of the box shall be fixed so that it cannot easily work loose.
    • Fatty substances which do not easily liquefy, such as ointments, soft soap, resin, or similar substances and silk worm eggs, the conveyance of which presents fewer difficulties, should be enclosed in a first covering (box, bag of cloth or plastic), which itself should be placed in a second box of wood, metal, or other strong and thick material,
    • Dry colouring powders such as aniline blue and other similar substances will be allowed in strong tin boxes, placed in turn in wooden boxes with sawdust between the two container. dry non-colouring powders should be placed in boxes of metal, wood or cardboard, such boxes themselves be enclosed in a bag of cloth or strong thick plastic.
    • Live bees, leeches and parasites shall be enclosed in boxes so constructed as to avoid any danger.
  4. Small Packets are subject to the regulations laid down for samples of merchandise as regards form, make-up and packing.

Make-up

Small Packets must be made up in such a manner as to admit of their contents being easily examined. In addition, the name and address of the sender must be shown on the outside of the packets ; and each packet should be conspicuously marked “Small Packet” in the left-hand top corner.

Special Packing

  • Articles of glass or other fragile materials, liquids, oils, fatty substances, dry powders, colouring or not, live bees, leeches, silk worm eggs or parasites and destroyers of noxious insects intended for the control of those insects and exchanged between officially recognized institutions should be packed in the following manner for transmission as packets: -
  • Articles which would be spoilt if packed according to the general rules may in exceptional cases be allowed in a hermetically sealed packing. This provision applies also in the case of industrial and vegetable products, posted in a packing sealed by the manufacturer or by an an examining authority in the country of origin. In such cases, the government concerned may require the sender or the addressee to assist in the checking of the contents, either by opening certain packets indicated by the authorities or in some other satisfactory manner.

Prohibitions

The prohibitions applicable to the letter post apply also to the service of Small Packets subject to Export and Exchange control restrictions. In addition, it is forbidden to enclose in Small Packets:-

  • Any letter, note or document having the character of actual and personal correspondence.
  • Coin
  • Bank notes, currency notes, and negotiable instruments payable to bearer;
  • Platinum, gold or silver, manufactured or not;
  • Precious stones, jewels and other valuable articles;
  • Postage stamps, whether obliterated or not ;
  • Paper representing a monetary value.

Authorised Annotations

It is permitted to enclose in a small packet an open invoice reduced to its essential elements and to show on the out side of on the inside of the items in the later case on the article itself or on a special sheet, the address of the sender and the addressee with the indications in using commercial traffic, a manufacturers trade mark, a reference to correspondence exchanged between the sender and the addressee, a short note referring to the manufacturer and to the person supplying the goods or concerning the person for whom they are intended, as well as serial or registration numbers, prices, particulars relating to the weight, values and size, the quantity available and such particulars as are necessary to determine the source and character of the goods. It is also permitted to enclose therein any other documents not having the character of current and personal correspondence, provided that the addressee or sender or the document are not other than those of the small packets.

Weight and Size

A small packet may not exceed 1, 000 grams in weight. Size of small packets must not exceed the limits fixed for letters.. some countries accept small packets only up to 500 grams in weight.

Postage

  • The postage on a Small Packet to any country or place served by the Foreign Post can be found in Foreign Postage Rates page.
  • Small Packets must be fully prepaid.