Three Points to Know When Shipping from USA to Russia

Russia is a vast country with a massive market capitalization, making it a favorable place to do business with. Ever since the end of the Cold War, it has been possible to send packages to and from both places with relative ease — think the FedEX scene in the Red Square that opens the Robert Zemeckis film Cast Away, released back in 2000.  With that said, there are a few points that you should bear in mind when shipping from the USA to Russia, as the two nations have certain rules and procedures that must be adhered to. Learn all about it below.

Do Not Get Held Up At Customs

If you have ever traveled by yourself to Russia, you will have noticed the zealous nature of their customs agents, who check packages thoroughly to make sure that everything is in order. When delivering to a business or an individual in Russia, it is essential that you do everything correctly, so packages will not get held up for days or even weeks, potentially harming your bottom line. Firstly, it is not worth shipping anything that must be declared, that has a high retail value — i.e. over 10,000 USD — or any prohibited items on the Russian federation list. Additionally, make sure that you know your Harmonized Tariff Schedule Number, which can really help speed the process up.

Make Sure All Packages Are Safe and Secure

It takes nine and a half hours to fly directly from New York to Moscow, and twelve hours from LA. This distance can be even longer if you are looking to fly a package out to a city in Siberia. As a result, it is likely that your packages will have a lot of wear and tear. Russian planes are not known for keeping packages safe either — that is why you might see lots of people in a Russian airport travelling with bags wrapped tight in plastic. To make sure that the packages that you send are as safe as they can be, make sure to wrap them up with either strong adhesive tape or good baling wire, the latter of which you can purchase at Baling Wire Direct.

Write The Address in Cyrillic

The Russian alphabet, based on the Greek alphabet, is rather different from the English one. This means that when you write an address out in English, even if it corresponds to a proper Russian address, it may not be understood by a local postman. This is especially true if you are delivering to the Far East, where the level of English comprehension is likely to be close to zero. Simply make sure that you write the address out twice — first in English, then in Cyrillic. There are lots of online translation tools that can make this easy for you. It takes a little bit more effort, but if you donot do this, you run the real risk of the package simply not being delivered or returned to your doorstop.