Recently I ordered my favorite perfume from Amazon.com in the U.S. and had it delivered to my parents’ house, asking them to repackage and send it to me in Mexico. But they couldn’t, of course, because it’s a liquid, and you can’t send liquids through international mail. Not even if they’re medications.

Then I looked on Amazon.com.mx and was surprised to find the perfume for the same price, and it was eligible for free delivery! Now I’ve got Amazon Prime Mexico, and it’s well worth the $899 (US$49) pesos per year even though deliveries of some items take up to three weeks because they’re coming from the States. No more U.S. shipping charges, and no need to pay US$200 per year for the local package forwarding service!

For future reference, here is Fedex’s list of prohibited items: (forbidden to be exported from the U.S. or imported to Mexico):

• 1-phenyl-2-propanone
• 3, 4-Methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone
• Alcohol (natural, industrialized, ethylic)
• Alcoholic beverages
• Animal products
• Animal skins
• Benzyl cyanide
• Bunker oil sample (for analysis)
• Chemicals, Haz and Non-Haz
• Circuits & circuit boards
• Coal & firewood
• Coffee, Coffee samples
• Cologne and Perfume, Haz and Non-Haz
• Compact discs
• Computer components & parts
• Cosmetics
• Cotton
• Cotton seeds
• Diacetyl morphine
• Drugs (narcotic, hallucinogenic, etc.)
• Drugs, Prescription and Non-Prescription
• Electronic Cigarettes
• Electronic equipment
• Electronic games
• Ephedrine
• Ergometrine
• Ergotamine
• Eye glasses and contacts
• Fabrics & fabric samples
• Films: entertainment
• Films: promotional, training
• Fire extinguishers
• Foodstuffs
• Forged or counterfeit goods
• Furs
• Grain samples
• Imide of the N-phtalylglutamic acid
• Industrial equipment
• Isopropanol
• Isosafrole
• Jewelry
• Laser discs
• Leather goods
• Liquids, Haz and Non-Haz
• Lysergic acid
• Marijuana (Cannabis Indica) plants and parts of plants
• Marijuana (Cannabis Indica) saps and extracts
• Matches
• Measuring apparatus
• Medical samples
• N-Acetylanthranilic acid
• Phenylpropanolamine
• Piperonal
• Pseudoephedrine
• Safrole
• Stone/mineral samples for analysis
• Subs
• Swatches
• Tea
• Telecommunications equipment
• Televisions, television equipment
• Textile articles
• Thallium sulfate
• The salts and optical isomers of the aforementioned substances, whenever the existence of such salts is possible
• Tobacco
• Toxic Gases
• Toys
• Transfers, Stamps, prints and photographs, printed in colors or in black and white, known as “Garbage Pail Kids,” for sale in packages or envelopes, even including chewing gum, candy or any other article, containing figures or illustrations showing childhood in denigrated and ridiculous manners, inciting to violence, to self-destruction or to any kind of antisocial behavior, and mentioning to have been printed in the U.S. or any other country by “Topps Chewing Gum, Incorporated” or by any company or firm
• Turtle and “Caguama” turtle raw hides and skins
• Used Clothing (except unaccompanied baggage)
• Wallpaper
• Yarn

In addition, Fedex lists the following items as “restricted” (meaning you may require special permits or licenses prior to their sale, export from or import to Mexico):

• Meat of poultry in brine
• Apples
• Lard, fats and oils
• Beer
• Cigars and cigarettes
• Matches
• New pneumatic tires of a kind used on bicycles
• Used pneumatic tires
• Footwear, gaiters and the like; parts of such articles
• Bicycles
• Compact discs, recorded and unrecorded
• Sound recording equipment (CD writers)
• Textiles
• Candy
• Oil (all kinds)
• Used Clothing (except unaccompanied baggage)
• Poisons, (Toxins)

Confession: I’ve had some restricted and prohibited items shipped from the U.S. to Mexico—toys, for example, and my own used clothing—and they arrived without question, but when handled by the local freight forwarding service, they told me that used household goods and such would be valued at $25 if I failed to provide a value in advance for calculation of import duties, so I assigned garage sale prices to those items in writing, and emailed to the forwarder the same day they were shipped from the U.S.

Keep in mind these prohibitions and restrictions are for shipping/mailing, and may not apply to items you bring with you on a flight or in the car. I’m pretty sure I brought a kitchen scale and other “measuring apparatus (apparati?)” when I drove down the first time. And I’ve brought candy, toys, jewelry, leather goods, etc., without thinking to claim them, and without consequence. Best to check if you have doubts, and buy the item once you get to Mexico, if you can.