USPS Questions

[ItsKarl]

So I ordered some tins of tobacco from tobaccopipes.com back in April. I got very regular updates until May 10th, when the tracking said it was in "Oslo metropolitan area", having been brought to Norway from the US via Keflavik Itl., Iceland. Great, so it's in the country, then. From other accounts I have heard that it can take ages for it to be processed from there, so I didn't check back until just now. And now I see that it's back in Reykjavik again, where it says "Your item departed a transfer airport in KEFLAVIK INTERNATIONAL, REYKJAVIK, ICELAND on May 11, 2024 at 8:05 am. The item is currently in transit to the destination." Oh I wish I could believe you, USPS. The last three updates read as follows (newest on top):

International Transit
Departed
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND
May 11, 2024, 8:05 am

Departed
OSLO, NORWAY
May 10, 2024, 1:58 pm

Departed
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND
May 10, 2024, 7:51 am


I did not get an email notification for that last update, by the way. I just hope they're not returning to sender. Any similar experiences?

 

[grimpeur]

Once it's out of the US it's not a USPS issue, it's a Norwegian customs and/or post issue, no?

I experience the thrills getting my tobacco delivered to Canada. Once the shipment arrives at the border, I track using the Canada Post site; it's generally a little more precise.

 

[ItsKarl]

Should be, but the Norwegian tracking merely states that the parcel has been registered and is "awaiting delivery from sender". And now, apparently, my tobacco has gone back to Iceland. It's clearly some sort of customs kerfuffle, and I fear what might happen - or what might already have happened - if they aren't too familiar with their own regulations (which wouldn't be a first).

See, the imports of cigarettes and loose tobacco for cigarettes is extremely restricted - they have to have neutral packaging, and a warning label in Norwegian, or customs officers may impound and(/or) destroy the contents. Now, pipe tobacco is so far given an exception to neutral packaging requirement in the law books, but when I take a look at the customs office's web page they do not mention pipe tobacco at all. What they do write:

It is prohibited to import:​

• New forms of tobacco and products containing nicotine that are not approved for import or sale in Norway. Examples of new products without approval are nicotine snuff (without tobacco), Heated Tobacco Products (HTP) / Iqos with Heets sticks and hookah tobacco.
• Cases, boxes, covers, wrappings, and any other product intended to partially or fully hide or obscure the health warnings on the products.
• Tobacco products for resale without a licence from The Norwegian Directorate of Health.

It is allowed to import:​

• Herbal mixtures without tobacco and nicotine content,for use in hookah/water pipes.
• Snuff without tobacco and nicotine content.

I'm hoping to avoid having to call customs, because that's a bit like having my teeth pulled.

 

[captpat]

There isn't enough information to determine if it's a Postal or Custom's snafu. There are ample examples of the tribulations of overseas tobacco shipments documented in this forum. Few of them have happy endings. Decision-making by Customs officials often seems arbitrary and capricious, impossible to appeal. Nowadays I avoid international shipments and the surprising brokerage fees that show up later from the carrier.

 

[Sigmund]

No one can say for sure but if it is moving in reverse it looks like the package has been rejected and is going back home.

Try putting the tracking number in something like Parcelsapp or another third party tracking site. Sometimes there are more details.

 

[ItsKarl]

There isn't enough information to determine if it's a Postal or Custom's snafu. There are ample examples of the tribulations of overseas tobacco shipments documented in this forum. Few of them have happy endings. Decision-making by Customs officials often seems arbitrary and capricious, impossible to appeal. Nowadays I avoid international shipments and the surprising brokerage fees that show up later from the carrier.

Not what I wanted to hear, but it is what I expected to hear.

 

[ItsKarl]

No one can say for sure but if it is moving in reverse it looks like the package has been rejected and is going back home.

Try putting the tracking number in something like Parcelsapp or another third party tracking site. Sometimes there are more details.

Thanks for the tip. Parcelsapp did indeed provide... well, not so much more information so much as more detailed information - without really telling me more than USPS' tracking.

Maybe I'll get a customs form in the mail one of these days. Has happened before. But I'm beginning to fear that the only thing more difficult to import is a fully assembled bomb.

 

[kcghost]

And there is always the petty customs functionary who can unilaterally decide what the government should really want to happen.

 

[ItsKarl]

I remember accompanying a friend of mine to the customs office once upon a time, some 20+ years ago. He had ordered a book from abroad, and literature is exempt from import tax by Norwegian law. He tried to argue this to the functionary, but he insisted he couldn't be sure it was a book. "Well, let's open it and you'll see." The functionary replied he wasn't allowed to let him open it, as that would be transfer of custody. But he could open it in my friend's stead, with his permission - for a fee. The fee was very close to the toll demanded. My friend could, of course, pay the toll and then apply to have it refunded, if he could provide proof the parcel was exempt. But that involved a lot of red tape, and apparently it wasn't enough to show the functionary, as he had no part in the appeals process.