Administrative Measures on Prohibited Delivery Items

In order to strengthen safety management in the postal industry, prevent prohibited delivery items from entering the delivery channels, properly handle any contraband that has entered the delivery system, and ensure safe and smooth postal operations, these Administrative Measures on Prohibited Delivery Items are hereby issued in accordance with the Postal Law of the People's Republic of China , the Counter-Terrorism Law of the People's Republic of China , the Administrative Measures for Safety Supervision and Management in the Postal Industry , and other relevant laws, administrative regulations, and provisions.

This is hereby announced.

Attachment: Administrative Measures on Prohibited Delivery Items

Administrative Measures on Prohibited Delivery Items

Article 1

To enhance safety management in the postal industry, prevent prohibited delivery items from entering delivery channels, properly deal with contraband entering the delivery system, maintain safe and unimpeded delivery channels, and promote healthy development of the postal sector, these measures are formulated based on the Postal Law of the People’s Republic of China , the Counter-Terrorism Law of the People’s Republic of China , the Administrative Measures for Safety Supervision and Management in the Postal Industry , and other relevant laws, administrative regulations, and national provisions.

Article 2

These measures apply to all activities related to the provision and use of delivery services within the territory of the People's Republic of China, as well as related supervision and management.

Where laws, administrative regulations, or relevant departments of the State Council have separate provisions regarding prohibited items for import or export, such provisions shall prevail.

Article 3

The term “prohibited delivery items” (hereinafter referred to as "prohibited items") primarily includes:

(1) Items that endanger national security, disrupt social order, or undermine social stability; items that pose a threat to delivery safety, including explosive, flammable, corrosive, toxic, infectious, radioactive, or similar hazardous materials;

(2) Other items explicitly prohibited from being mailed under laws, administrative regulations, or provisions of the State Council and its relevant departments.

A detailed list of prohibited items is provided in the appendix titled "Guidance Catalogue of Prohibited Delivery Items."

Article 4

The postal regulatory authorities shall supervise and guide enterprises providing delivery services (hereinafter referred to as "delivery enterprises") to implement the inspection and verification system upon receipt of mail. They shall urge enterprises to strengthen safety management, conduct safety inspections on delivery enterprises in accordance with the law, and investigate and punish illegal acts involving the acceptance of prohibited items.

Article 5

Users sending mails or express parcels must comply with laws, administrative regulations, and provisions issued by the State Council and its relevant departments concerning prohibited items. Users shall not send prohibited items, conceal prohibited items within mails or express packages, or falsely declare prohibited items as other goods for mailing.

Article 6

Delivery enterprises shall display these regulations and the associated guidance catalogues at their business premises and through other public means.

Article 7

Delivery enterprises shall establish and improve systems for safety education and training, enhance employees' awareness, identification capabilities, and response skills regarding prohibited items. Personnel who have not undergone safety education and training shall not be allowed to work.

Article 8

Delivery enterprises shall strictly enforce the system of inspecting and verifying items at the time of receipt, in accordance with the law. They shall verify whether the items submitted by users are prohibited items, and whether the name, nature, and quantity of the items match the information declared on the delivery form, so as to prevent prohibited items from entering the delivery channels.

Article 9

Delivery enterprises shall establish and improve safety inspection systems, equip themselves with security inspection equipment meeting national or industry standards, and arrange personnel with professional knowledge and skills to conduct safety checks on mails and express packages.

Article 10

Delivery enterprises shall formulate emergency plans for handling prohibited items, revise them timely in light of changing circumstances, and file them with postal regulatory authorities. When prohibited items are discovered during the delivery process, they shall be handled properly in accordance with the emergency plan.

Article 11

If prohibited or suspected prohibited items are discovered after delivery enterprises have accepted them, the enterprise shall immediately stop transportation, report the incident to the local postal regulatory authority, and take the following actions accordingly:

(1) If firearms (including replicas and major components), ammunition, controlled instruments, etc., are found, immediately report to the public security organs;

(2) If narcotics or precursor chemicals for drug manufacturing are found, immediately report to the public security organs;

(3) If explosives or flammable and explosive hazardous materials are found, immediately evacuate people, isolate the site, and report to the public security organs;

(4) If radioactive, toxic, corrosive, infectious, or other hazardous materials are found, immediately evacuate people, isolate the scene, and report to public security, environmental protection, health quarantine, or occupational safety and health regulatory departments depending on the situation;

(5) If illegal publications, printed materials, audio-visual products, or other propaganda materials that threaten national security and social stability are found, promptly report to national security, public security, news publishing, and other relevant departments;

(6) If counterfeit currency, forged documents, seals, or infringing goods are found, promptly report to public security and industrial and commercial administration departments;

(7) If endangered wildlife species or their derivatives are found, promptly report to public security and wildlife administrative departments;

(8) If prohibited items for import or export are found, promptly report to customs, national security, and entry-exit inspection and quarantine departments;

(9) If state secret documents, materials, or items sent via non-confidential channels are found, promptly report to national security agencies;

(10) If espionage-specific equipment or suspected espionage-specific equipment is found, promptly report to national security agencies;

(11) For any other prohibited or suspected prohibited items, report to the relevant government departments for legal handling.

Article 12

Upon receiving reports from delivery enterprises about prohibited items, postal regulatory authorities shall report to higher-level departments according to regulations, and coordinate with public security, national security, health quarantine, customs, inspection and quarantine, news publishing, industrial and commercial administration, occupational safety and health regulatory, and wildlife administrative departments as needed for joint handling in accordance with the law.

Article 13

The Guidance Catalogue of Prohibited Delivery Items shall be determined and published jointly by the State Post Bureau and relevant departments, and adjusted periodically.

Article 14

Units or individuals who promptly discover and report prohibited items, safeguard national security, public safety, and the lives and property of the people, or effectively prevent or reduce delivery-related accidents may be commended in accordance with the law.

Article 15

For delivery enterprises illegally accepting prohibited items, postal regulatory authorities shall impose penalties in accordance with laws and administrative regulations such as the Postal Law of the People's Republic of China and the Counter-Terrorism Law of the People's Republic of China .

Article 16

Users who violate these provisions by concealing prohibited items in mails or express packages, misrepresenting prohibited items as other goods, or otherwise delivering prohibited items shall bear civil liability for any personal injury or property damage caused; if the act constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility shall be pursued in accordance with the law; if it does not constitute a crime, penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Public Security Administration Punishments and other relevant laws and administrative regulations.

Article 17

These measures shall come into effect on the date of issuance. The Guidance Catalogue of Prohibited Items and Handling Procedures (Trial) issued by the State Post Bureau on November 6, 2007 (Document No. Guo You Fa [2007] No. 152) is hereby repealed.

Appendix: Guidance Catalogue of Prohibited Delivery Items

I. Firearms (including replicas and key parts), Ammunition

1. Firearms (including replicas and key parts): e.g., pistols, rifles, submachine guns, riot control guns, air guns, hunting guns, sports guns, tranquilizer guns, BB guns, tear gas guns, etc.
2. Ammunition (including replicas): e.g., bullets, bombs, grenades, rockets, illumination rounds, incendiary rounds, smoke rounds, signal flares, tear gas rounds, chemical agent shells, landmines, hand grenades, artillery shells, gunpowder, etc.

II. Controlled Instruments

1. Controlled knives: e.g., daggers, triangular-blade knives, spring-assisted (switchblade) knives, and similar single-edged, double-edged, or three-edged pointed knives.
2. Others: e.g., crossbows, tear gas sprays, electric shock devices, etc.

III. Explosives

1. Blasting materials: e.g., explosives, detonators, fuses, detonating cords, blasting agents, etc.
2. Fireworks and firecrackers: e.g., fireworks, firecrackers, snap caps, pull-tabs, percussion caps, color powder projectiles, black powder, pyrotechnic compositions, percussion paper, ignition fuses, etc.
3. Others: e.g., propellants, igniting compounds, nitrocellulose, electric igniters, etc.

IV. Compressed and Liquefied Gases and Their Containers

1. Flammable gases: e.g., hydrogen, methane, ethane, butane, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, ethylene, propylene, acetylene, lighters, etc.
2. Toxic gases: e.g., carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, chlorine, etc.
3. Flammable, suffocating, or oxidizing gases: e.g., compressed oxygen, nitrogen, helium, neon, aerosols, etc.

V. Flammable Liquids

e.g., gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, tung oil, acetone, ether, paint, raw lacquer, benzene, alcohol, turpentine, etc.

VI. Flammable Solids, Self-Igniting Substances, Water-Reactive Substances

1. Flammable solids: e.g., red phosphorus, sulfur, aluminum powder, glitter powder, solid alcohol, matches, activated charcoal, etc.
2. Self-igniting substances: e.g., yellow phosphorus, white phosphorus, nitrocellulose (including film), titanium powder, etc.
3. Water-reactive substances: e.g., metallic sodium, potassium, lithium, zinc powder, magnesium powder, calcium carbide (electrocalcium), sodium cyanide, potassium cyanide, etc.

VII. Oxidizers and Peroxides

e.g., permanganates, perchlorates, hydrogen peroxide, sodium peroxide, potassium peroxide, lead peroxide, chlorates, bromates, nitrates, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), etc.

VIII. Toxic Substances

e.g., arsenic, arsenic trioxide, mercury compounds, thallium compounds, cyanides, selenium powder, phenol, mercury, highly toxic pesticides, etc.

IX. Biochemical Products, Infectious and Pathogenic Substances

e.g., pathogens, anthrax, parasites, excreta, medical waste, human remains, animal organs, limbs, untreated animal hides, untreated animal bones, etc.

X. Radioactive Substances

e.g., uranium, cobalt, radium, plutonium, etc.

XI. Corrosive Substances

e.g., sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, batteries, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, etc.

XII. Narcotics, Drug Paraphernalia, Illicit Use of Anesthetics and Psychotropic Substances, and Unauthorized Precursor Chemicals

1. Narcotics, anesthetics, and psychotropic substances: e.g., opium (including poppy husks, flowers, buds, leaves), morphine, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine (ice), ketamine, mephedrone, amphetamine, caffeine tablets, etc.
2. Precursor chemicals: e.g., piperonal, safrole, sassafras oil, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, hydroxylamine, phenylacetone, phenylacetic acid, bromophenylacetone, acetic anhydride, toluene, acetone, etc.
3. Drug paraphernalia: e.g., bongs (ice pipes), etc.

XIII. Illegal Publications, Printed Materials, Audio-Visual Products, and Propaganda Materials

e.g., books, periodicals, images, photographs, audio-visual products containing content that is reactionary, incites ethnic hatred, undermines national unity, threatens social stability, promotes cults, religious extremism, pornography, etc.

XIV. Espionage-Specific Equipment

e.g., concealed listening devices, covert photography equipment, burst transmission radio sets, one-time code pads, invisible ink tools, electronic surveillance and interception equipment used for intelligence gathering, etc.

XV. Counterfeit and Fraudulent Items

e.g., forged or altered currency, documents, official seals, etc.

XVI. Infringing Intellectual Property and Counterfeit or Substandard Goods

1. Infringing intellectual property: e.g., books, audio-visual products infringing patents, trademarks, or copyrights.
2. Counterfeit or substandard goods: e.g., fake or inferior food, medicines, children's products, electronics, cosmetics, textiles, etc.

XVII. Endangered Wild Animals and Their Derivatives

e.g., ivory, tiger bones, rhino horns, and their derivatives.

XVIII. Items Prohibited from Import or Export

e.g., foods, medicines, or other items harmful to human or animal health originating from epidemic areas or capable of spreading disease; documents, materials, or other items containing state secrets.

XIX. Other Items

Items listed in the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals , the List of Civilian Explosive Materials , the Directory of Explosive Precursors , the Classification and List of Narcotic Precursor Chemicals , the Table of Prohibited Items for Import and Export of the People's Republic of China , and Category I and II pathogenic microorganisms in the List of Human-Infectious Pathogens , as well as other items prohibited from delivery under laws, administrative regulations, or decisions of the State Council and its relevant departments.