How to Check If an Item Is Banned for Import in Pakistan Before You Pay

Short answer: Open the Banned Commodities and Countries page on the Trade Information Portal of Pakistan (tipp.gov.pk) and check your goods against it before you pay a seller. It lists what the Import Policy Order, 2022 bans: goods of Indian or Israeli origin, counterfeit products, certain waste, drugs, alcohol, arms and more.

Someone in Peshawar pays a seller abroad, the parcel lands at customs, and then the officer says the goods cannot come in. The money is gone and the goods are held. The ban list is public, and it takes ten minutes to read.

We read the TIPP page on banned commodities on 14 October 2026. It is a summary of the Import Policy Order, 2022, kept by the Pakistan Single Window. We did not read every code line by line, so we describe the groups and tell you where the exact codes are.

The ban list has two parts: by origin and by item

Some goods are banned because of where they come from. Others are banned whatever the country. The page splits them, so check your goods against both: the item itself, and the country of origin or the country it ships from.

For origin, the page quotes paragraph 5(2) of the order. Goods of Indian or Israeli origin, or imported from India or Israel, are banned. The proviso says this does not apply to therapeutic products regulated by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, DRAP, in the case of India.

The page also lists live cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats, plus meat and bone meal and feed ingredients of animal origin, from countries the World Organisation for Animal Health classes as having a controlled or undetermined risk of BSE. Counterfeit products are banned. So are all rough diamonds from Côte d'Ivoire.

The banned items, group by group

The page sorts banned goods into groups, each with a table of customs codes. Read the group that matches your goods, then find your code in the table. A code that appears in a table is banned from every country unless an exception is shown.

Alcoholic drinks and spirits are on the list, with industrial ethyl alcohol left out. Some medicines are on it too, so a pharmacist or a DRAP-regulated importer should check before ordering. The page says some items bear exceptions, so open the table and read the whole row.

Second-hand goods have their own list

The order also bans a separate set of goods when they are used or second-hand. This list is called Appendix-C. A new machine may come in while the same machine, used, cannot. The page links to Appendix-C, and it carries exceptions.

The order lists items such as boilers, compressors, air conditioners and refrigerators among those not importable used, with some exceptions. We cover that list in a separate guide on used machines and appliances.

For cars the rules are different again. See the rules and duty for importing a used car. For phones and radios, type approval from PTA comes first.

How to check your goods in ten minutes

Find the customs code for your goods, open the TIPP ban page, and look for that code and for your country of origin. If nothing matches, also look at the restriction lists, because some goods are allowed only on conditions.

1. Write down the product and the country it will ship from and the country it was made in.
2. Find the 8-digit PCT code. A search on TIPP's commodity page will show it.
3. Open the Banned Commodities and Countries page and read each group.
4. Look for your code. A code without an exception means the import is banned.
5. If you are unsure, ask a customs clearing agent before you pay the seller.

The order itself restricts some other goods on conditions listed in its Appendix-B. A ban is a hard stop. A restriction means a permit, a standard or a licence. Do not mix them up.

What happens if banned goods arrive

The TIPP page does not say what happens to banned goods that arrive, so we cannot tell you the penalty or whether a refund is possible. If your parcel is stuck, read what to do when a phone is stuck at customs.

Customs can also sell seized goods later at auction. See how a customs auction works. For duty on allowed goods, check the rules on personal baggage.

Common questions

Where is the official ban list?

The TIPP page named Banned Commodities and Countries summarises it. The full legal text is the Import Policy Order, 2022, linked from that page.

Are goods from India banned?

The order bans goods of Indian or Israeli origin, or imported from those countries. For India, therapeutic products regulated by DRAP are excepted.

Can I import used goods?

Some used goods can come in and some cannot. Appendix-C lists items banned when used, with exceptions, so check it first.

Is a ban the same as a restriction?

No. A ban stops the import. A restriction lets goods in only if you meet conditions, such as a permit or standard.

Do I need a code to check?

It helps. Most entries are listed by customs code, so a code gives a clear yes or no. Some are listed by description only.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 14 October 2026, Pakistan time. We read the TIPP page Banned Commodities and Countries. We did not read the full text of the Import Policy Order, and we did not check each code. The page does not date its last update, so confirm with customs before you order high-value goods.