What items cannot be shipped to Germany?
Quick answer
You cannot ship to Germany: weapons, drugs and hazardous materials, counterfeit goods, large amounts of cash, and live animals — always prohibited. From non-EU countries, meat and dairy products are banned in personal baggage and by post (EU Regulation 2019/2122). Everything above the €430 traveller allowance is dutiable, and items carried for someone else should be declared to German customs.
Always prohibited or restricted
Regardless of who carries it — courier, post, or traveler — these categories are barred by German and EU law, and carrying them creates criminal liability for both sender and carrier:
- •Weapons, ammunition, and knives subject to authorisation
- •Drugs and narcotics, and prescription drugs without a valid prescription
- •Counterfeit goods and pirated media
- •Hazardous materials and dangerous goods per airline rules
- •Large amounts of cash (declare above €10,000 entering or leaving the EU)
- •Live animals (subject to separate veterinary rules), plants without phytosanitary certificates
- •Perishable foods
Meat and dairy from non-EU countries: the rule that surprises most senders
Under EU Regulation 2019/2122, travellers may not bring meat, milk, or products derived from them into the EU from non-EU countries in personal luggage — and sending them by post or courier is even harder, because animal-product consignments must meet the same veterinary requirements as commercial imports (health certificates and a Common Health Entry Document). For practical purposes, personal meat and dairy shipments are not possible.
The narrow exceptions (per the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the European Commission):
- •Honey and certain other animal products: up to 2 kg per person
- •Fish and fish products: up to 20 kg per person (or one fish)
- •Powdered infant milk, infant food, and special foods for medical reasons: small quantities, sealed, branded packaging that does not need refrigeration
- •Bread, cakes, biscuits, and chocolate: unrestricted as personal-consumption food, because their animal-origin share is small and processed
Food from India specifically
The items Indian senders ask about most, sorted by the rule that applies:
- •Fine: spices, tea, rice, dry snacks without dairy or meat, namkeen and sealed vegetarian snacks, breads and biscuits, chocolate.
- •Not allowed: ghee, butter, paneer and khoya, milk-based sweets (barfi, gulab jamun, khoa peda), any meat item — all dairy or meat derivatives fall under the ban (see Can I carry ghee from India to Germany?).
- •Declare when required: anything above the duty-free allowance, or carried on behalf of another person.
Duty and declaration: the €430 line
Travellers arriving in Germany by air from outside the EU can bring goods worth up to €430 duty-free for personal use (the EU-wide traveller allowance). Items carried for another person are in principle subject to duty — travellers should declare them and keep receipts. A carried gift inside the allowance with an honest declaration is routine; commercial quantities always attract scrutiny. Zoll.de publishes the current rules and the red/green channel guidance.
Related questions
What is illegal to bring to Germany?+
Weapons and ammunition without authorisation, drugs and narcotics, counterfeit goods, large undeclared cash sums above €10,000, protected species (CITES), and — from non-EU countries — meat and dairy products in personal luggage. Prescription medication should be carried with a valid prescription.
Can I send food gifts to Germany by courier or post?+
Food gifts between individuals are permitted in principle (Zoll.de), but the animal-product rules still apply: meat and dairy cannot be sent from non-EU countries without commercial veterinary certification, which personal shipments cannot meet. Plant-based foods — spices, tea, sweets without dairy, biscuits — are the sendable category.
Do I pay customs duty on a carried package entering Germany?+
Goods inside the €430 traveller allowance pass duty-free; items carried for another person should in principle be declared and may incur duty. Agree contents, value, and who covers any duty with your traveler before handover, and keep an item list.