What movers won't ship from Singapore

Behind a mover’s list of excluded items you’ll find three kinds of rule: transport safety rules for dangerous goods, your destination’s customs and biosecurity controls, and permits for controlled items. Knowing which one applies tells you what to do with each thing before packing day.

What movers won’t pack, and why

Guidelines from FIDI, the international movers’ federation, ask a member firm’s surveyor to advise you on “restrictions and prohibited items”, flag “restricted or hazardous items” in the survey report and make sure the packing crew knows what must stay out. The details depend on your mover, your destination and, if your employer is paying, its relocation policy. Ask for the list in writing and share it with anyone helping you pack. If you haven’t chosen a mover yet, the Relocado directory lists Singapore international movers.

These are the categories that official rules single out:

Category	Examples	Why
Flammable liquids and gases	Paint, thinners such as acetone, aerosol cans, CO2 cartridges, gas cylinders	The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) lists these as common dangerous goods. At sea, the Maritime and Port Authority applies the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code, and dangerous goods must be declared before loading
Batteries	Loose lithium-ion and lithium metal batteries, equipment containing them, batteries containing acid	CAAS lists all of these as dangerous goods
Household chemicals	Bleach, drain cleaners, pesticides	CAAS lists them among corrosive or toxic dangerous goods
Fireworks and flares	Fireworks, flares, pyrotechnics	CAAS bans them from baggage on all flights
Food	Pantry items, anything containing meat	Australia lists all food and pantry items as possible biosecurity concerns; the US bars most meat products
Plants and soil	Pot plants, seeds, garden soil, muddy tools	The US prohibits soil without an import permit; Australia lists plant material, pots and seeds
Weapons, including replicas	Guns, other weapons, toy or replica guns	Exports regulated by the police need a Customs permit, and guns and weapons also need a police licence (Singapore Customs)
Wildlife products	Ivory, hard coral, some orchids	Items covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) need permits to leave or enter a country, for individuals as well as businesses

What your destination will check

Australia

Every shipment of unaccompanied personal effects gets a biosecurity assessment by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), and the Australian Border Force won’t release your goods until DAFF has cleared them. You declare goods of concern on an Unaccompanied Personal Effects Statement (B534), completed in English, and failing to declare risk items can lead to prosecution. DAFF’s checklist asks you to:

clean outdoor furniture, pots, garden tools, bikes, footwear, sports and camping gear and barbecues so no soil, insects or plant or animal material remains
empty and clean the vacuum cleaner bag, and vacuum rugs and mats
check wooden furniture for small holes or frass, which can mean wood borers
record what each item is made of on the packing list, such as “wooden chair” or “cane basket”, number the boxes and note which boxes hold declared items
avoid second-hand boxes that held fruit, vegetables, meat or eggs

Items that can’t be cleaned or treated may be destroyed or exported at your expense. Alcohol and tobacco in the shipment don’t get the duty-free concession: the Border Force assesses them for duty and tax.

United States

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says soil is prohibited without an import permit, some plants, cuttings and seeds need permits while others are banned, and almost anything containing meat is inadmissible. It suggests leaving rice behind, because rice can harbour insects. Firearms are restricted, and importing virtually any ivory needs a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Household goods that arrive separately are declared on CBP Form 3299, and your complete inventory is treated as the packing list.

Other destinations

Check your destination’s customs and biosecurity pages before you pack. New Zealand Customs, for example, asks you to read its prohibited and restricted items section and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ biosecurity rules before shipping household effects.

What to do with each item before you leave

Batteries and power banks: drop them in an e-waste bin. NEA (the National Environment Agency) asks you never to put batteries in general or blue recycling bins, to tape the terminals of rechargeable batteries and to seal leaking ones in a leak-proof bag.
E-scooters and power-assisted bicycles: if they run on lithium-ion batteries, CAAS counts them as dangerous goods, so ask your mover before assuming they can go. If they’re staying, NEA lists ALBA’s collection drives, run with town councils, among the channels that accept personal mobility devices, power-assisted bicycles and electric mobility scooters.
Electronics and appliances you aren’t shipping: the e-waste bins and collection options are covered in ship, sell, store or dispose.
Paint: use it up or give it away. NEA’s recycling guide accepts paint cans in the blue recycling bin once no liquid paint is left.
Aerosols and household chemicals: use them up in your final weeks, or give them to friends or neighbours who are staying.
Gas cylinders: if your home runs on bottled liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ask your supplier to collect the cylinder. Esso’s LPG safety page, for example, tells customers to call its distributors about cylinder returns.
Food: plan meals to run the pantry down. The Food Bank Singapore’s donation boxes take unopened, unexpired dry or packaged food with at least five weeks until expiry, but not fresh, opened, half-eaten or expired items.
Plants: give them away, with their pots and soil, well before packing day.
Weapons, replicas and wildlife products: if you want to keep them, raise it with your mover early, because they need the licence or permit described above. Personal ivory needs a CITES permit from both the country you leave and the one you enter.

Keep these out of the container

Pack a folder and a bag that travel with you, not with the shipment:

passports, visas and work passes, plus employment and tenancy documents
your mover’s inventory and the customs forms for your destination: Australia’s B534, the US Form 3299 or New Zealand’s NZCS 218, which New Zealand Customs wants with a copy of your passport and a packing list
medication in its original containers with your prescriptions; CBP’s advice to visitors bringing medication is to carry a prescription or doctor’s note in English
jewellery, watches, cash and anything irreplaceable
laptops and drives holding work or personal data

The bulky leftovers

Once the packers have gone, you may still have furniture that didn’t sell and items a charity turned down. Junk to Clear, the team behind Relocado, has cleared homes since 2009, from single items up to whole flats, seven days a week. Leave a gap between packing day and your handover for that clearance.

Need the leftovers cleared before you fly?

Tell us what you need and the team behind Junk to Clear will get you a quote.

Questions people ask

Can I pack aerosols, paint or cleaning products in my shipment?

Ask your mover, but plan to leave them behind. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore lists aerosol cans, paint, thinners, bleach and gas cylinders among common dangerous goods, and dangerous goods loaded onto ships here must be declared to the port authority. Use them up or give them away; empty paint cans can go in the blue recycling bin.

Will my mover ship lithium batteries or power banks?

Ask before you pack. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore lists lithium-ion and lithium metal batteries, and equipment containing them, as dangerous goods. Batteries and power banks you aren't keeping go into e-waste bins, never general or blue recycling bins, and NEA asks you to tape the terminals of rechargeable batteries first.

Can I ship my bicycle and outdoor furniture to Australia?

They can go, but clean them first. Australia's agriculture department asks you to remove soil, insects and plant or animal material from bikes, outdoor furniture, garden tools and footwear. Goods of concern must also be declared on the B534 statement the Australian Border Force requires. Items that can't be cleaned or treated may be destroyed or exported at your expense.

What happens if I don't declare something to Australian biosecurity?

The B534 statement is a legal declaration to the Australian Border Force and the agriculture department, and failing to declare risk items on it can lead to prosecution. Risk items found at inspection may need to be cleaned, treated, exported or destroyed at your expense.

Can I take potted plants or garden soil to the United States?

US Customs and Border Protection prohibits soil unless it comes with an import permit, and some plants and seeds need permits while others are banned. Give plants and soil away in Singapore, and clean soil off shoes, tools and bikes before they're packed.

Sources

Rules change. We check each guide against these official pages, last on 28 September 2026. If a source says something different from this guide, the source is right. Please tell us athello@relocado.asia.

Relocado is run by the team behind Junk to Clear, HomeToMoved and HomeToClean. Where this guide links to one of them, it’s because the step calls for that service, and we say so in the sentence. Enquiries sent through the form go to the same team. How Relocado works