Culture, Daily Living, & Adjustment

Parth wrote:I would like to post an LCD screen and a laptop to Australia. I was wondering if Hong Kong Post has any policy that disallows posting electronics? Would you provide me with packaging materials? Would it cost extra to mark these items as fragile?

What kind of rates would I be looking at for delivery by ship (slowest)?

Hong Kong Postal Service wrote:Dear Parth,

Thank you for your inquiry dated 8th December 10.

We are the postal administration in Hong Kong which handles local, inward and outward mailing items within Hong Kong and we will accept items for posting as long as they are not dangerous or prohibited items. We only accept the items if the sender declare they are safe to post.

However, the customs regulations and duties are different from country to country and the import of certain items are controlled by different departments or authorities concerned of the destination country. It is also under their discretion to determine whether to let your item be imported. Therefore, the sender or recipient is advised to consult the authority concerned of the destination country for the latest information on restrictions or tax leviable on the imported items, as failure to do so may lead to a return or detention of the packets or a payment of a fine in addition to customs duty as a condition of deliveries.

You may find the general regulations which are given by Australia postal administration in our Post Office Guide - Appendix - Overseas Post - Service Information by Destination on our website (http://www.hongkongpost.com/eng/publica ... df#page=15)for your reference and it can be changed by the authority concerned without prior notice.

Besides, all parcels and packets that go by post are carried in mailbags and are delivered via different means of transport. Unavoidable shocks and pressures could thus be expected during the journey, therefore a proper and sufficient packing is essential. All articles for abroad should be securely packed by the senders. Faulty or inadequate packing can lead to delay, damage and/or detention of the item and is a bar to the payment of any compensation which would normally be payable. The senders should fill all voids to ensure no movement, put protective wrap individually around every item, user outer cartons related to weight of contents and reinforced carton sealing tape as well.

Senders may use their own packagings for the mailed items but the recipient's and sender's addresses must be clearly shown and fulfil the size and weight limitation. They may also use our various types of postpack packaging which are available on sale at our post offices. You may refer to this website (http://www.hongkongpost.com/eng/service ... #packaging) for the size and price of our postpack packaging. You may also refer to our Post Office Guide - Section 6.2 (http://www.hongkongpost.com/eng/publica ... nt/6.2.pdf) for the information of special packing regulations and make up for certain articles.

The calculation of the postage rate is according to the total weight of the mail item (including the weight of the packaging) and the type of service the sender chooses. You are welcomed to visit the following website (http://app1.hongkongpost.com/calc/eng/o ... /step1.php) to estimate the postage rates of your shipment. You may also visit this website (http://www.hongkongpost.com/eng/postage/index.htm) for further information about postage rate. Please kindly note that the actual postage rates and all the postage-related fees of our different services, including the prepayment of the parcel postage and the service charges of different supplementary services, if required, can only be confirmed at the time of posting.

For your information, before you choose any postage service provided by us, please pay attention to the size and weight limits applied to the mails in different services. For letter service, it (including the packaging) should not exceed 2kg in weight, 900mm in length, width and depth combined. And it's greatest dimension should not exceed 600mm. For parcel service to Australia, it (including the packaging) should not exceed 20kg in weight, 1.05m in length. And it's length and girth combined should not exceed 2.0m. The length means the longest side of your parcel and girth means (Width+Height) x 2, the length and girth combined means Length + (Width+Height) x2.

You may refer to the diagrams in Section 6 (p.27):

General Information of our "Postage Rates and Services" guide (Pos 15) (http://www.hongkongpost.com/doc/common/pos15.pdf) which shows the size limits for postal articles.

Kindly noted that in accordance with the Universal Postal Convention, International Civil Aviation Organization and International Air Transport Association Regulations, all dangerous goods including lithium batteries are not admissible in the post (including Speedpost) for sending to overseas destinations by air. You may refer to this link (http://www.hongkongpost.com/eng/publica ... /index.htm) for the related notice.

If you require further information on our postal services, you may visit our corporate website (http://www.hongkongpost.com) or call our service hotline at 2921 2222. Thank you.

Yours sincerely
Public Relations Section
Hongkong Post