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Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail

Hazardous, restricted, and perishable mail is matter that USPS accepts only under the conditions Publication 52 sets. Some of it may harm people or property, other agencies' rules limit some, and some can spoil. Mailers use those conditions to learn what they may mail and how to package it.

Updated October 31, 202651 sources

What it is

USPS sorts this matter into three kinds:

  • A hazardous material is an item or substance likely to harm USPS employees or to damage mail or postal equipment.
  • Restricted matter is matter the law prohibits or limits, such as liquor, firearms, controlled substances and tobacco products.
  • Perishable matter is anything that can deteriorate in the mail and so lose value, create a health hazard, or cause an odor or nuisance.

Federal law makes all matter that is dangerous to life, health or property nonmailable. Knowingly mailing it is a crime. Some hazardous, restricted and perishable matter is still mailable when its requirements are met. In international commerce, hazardous materials are called dangerous goods.

Mailers, shippers, customers and USPS employees all use these standards. The rules for hazardous materials depend on how a piece travels, by air or by surface transportation. Surface transportation rules apply to every mailable hazardous material sent at USPS Ground Advantage or Parcel Select Lightweight prices.

A shipping paper is a shipping order, bill of lading, waybill or manifest that identifies hazardous materials sent by surface transportation. Neither USPS nor DOT supplies one. The mailer gets it from commercial printers, online retailers, safety supply stores or stationery stores.

How it works

The PCSC, USPS's Pricing and Classification Service Center, advises postmasters on mailability and issues initial rulings. Product Classification, an office at USPS Headquarters, decides appeals of those rulings.

Finding out whether an item is mailable.

  1. The mailer gives the Post Office a Safety Data Sheet and details about the material.
  2. When mailability is uncertain, the mailer may send them to Product Classification or the PCSC.
  3. The postmaster decides whether the item is mailable and may refuse it.
  4. An item that needs approval gets it in writing before the first mailing.
  5. The mailer packages, marks and enters the item for its mode of transportation, air or surface.

Toy propellant devices

A toy propellant device is a model rocket motor or igniter, classed as a Division 1.4S explosive. Explosives are banned from international mail and from domestic air mail. Domestic surface mail takes only these devices and safety fuses, once the director of Product Classification approves them.

Each device meets limits on its ignition, propellant and construction, such as holding no more than 30 g of propellant. It ignites by electrical means only, and its tube must not break into sharp or hard pieces. The mailpiece follows Packaging Instruction 1A and travels with a shipping paper. The mailer alone is responsible for following the rules of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Safety fuses

A safety fuse is a core of black powder covered with yarns, waterproofing compounds or tapes. One with identification number UN0105, classed as Division 1.4S, is mailable only with prior written approval from the director of Product Classification. It travels by domestic surface transportation only, packaged by Packaging Instruction 1B, with a shipping paper.

A fusee, a rail or highway distress signal, is a different item and is nonmailable. Every other kind of fuse is prohibited from the mail.

Lighters

A lighter with an ignition element and liquid fuel is a Class 3 flammable liquid, and one holding flammable gas is Division 2.1. Lighters travel by domestic surface transportation only. A shipping paper is not required.

Getting lighters approved and mailed.

  1. A DOT-approved lighter testing agency certifies the lighter's design and issues an approval number.
  2. The mailer sends the PCSC director a written request with the DOT approval notice and a sample lighter.
  3. The request gives the number of lighters and the Post Office where they will be mailed.
  4. The PCSC director sends an approval letter, which the mailer needs before mailing.
  5. The mailer packs each lighter by Packaging Instruction 3C, with its sparking mechanism secured.
  6. The address side shows the proper shipping name, the approval number and Surface Only.
  7. The mailer shows a copy of the approval letter at the first mailing at each facility.

Ethanol-based flammable liquids and solids

Flammable liquids and solids that contain ethanol may travel by domestic air, but only with prior written authorization. The mailer asks the director of Product Classification, giving product details, a Safety Data Sheet for each product, and the expected mailing volume. The first approval lasts 1 year and can be extended based on performance.

Each package goes by Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail. Its label says it contains air-eligible ethyl alcohol and gives the authorization number. A written notice inside tells the addressee not to mail the contents again by air. Package limits depend on how much ethanol the product holds:

Ethanol by volumePackageEach receptacleWhole mailpiece
70% or less25 pounds16 ounces liquid or 1 pound solid if not glass; 8 ounces or 1/2 pound if glass96 ounces liquid or 16 pounds solid
More than 70%16 pounds8 ounces liquid or ½ pound solid48 ounces liquid or 8 pounds solid

Category B infectious substances

An infectious substance is a material known or reasonably expected to contain a pathogen, a microorganism that can cause disease in humans or animals. Each one is assigned to Category A or Category B. Category A substances can cause permanent disability or fatal disease, and they are nonmailable. Category B covers every infectious substance that does not meet Category A's criteria.

Domestic mail takes a Category B substance only for medical or veterinary use, research, or public health laboratory certification. International mail takes it only with written approval from the director of Product Classification. It travels in triple packaging by Priority Mail or Priority Mail Express. A sack or tub that holds Category B substances carries PS Tag 44, Sack Contents Warning.

The three layers follow Packaging Instruction 6C:

  • A primary receptacle, leakproof for liquids or sift-proof for solids, holds up to 1 liter or 4 kg.
  • Secondary packaging, leakproof for liquids, carries the international biohazard symbol.
  • A rigid outer packaging encloses both.

The outer packaging also gives the name and phone number of a person who knows the emergency response for the material.

Sharps and regulated medical waste

Regulated medical waste is soft medical waste, other than a sharp, from the treatment, diagnosis, immunization or research of a human or animal. Sharps medical waste is waste that can cut or pierce skin or packaging, such as needles, syringes and scalpels. Waste that holds a Category A substance is not mailable. Waste with a Category B substance travels as USPS Returns service by USPS Ground Advantage, under Packaging Instruction 6D.

A vendor of complete mailing container systems gets USPS authorization before any mailing. First, an independent testing facility tests and certifies each type of container system. The request goes to the director of Product Classification with a $50,000 surety bond or letter of credit for disposal and cleanup costs.

A primary receptacle holds at most 3 gallons of sharps or 5 gallons of waste. Each mailpiece weighs no more than 25 pounds. A medical professional package, meant mainly for small medical offices, may use one receptacle larger than 5 gallons and weigh up to 35 pounds. Each mailpiece carries a four-part waste shipping paper in an envelope on its outside.

Drug mail-back programs

A mail-back program lets an authorized DEA registrant receive unused or unwanted drugs from the people who used them, for disposal. Programs run only within the 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Setting up a mail-back program.

  1. The registrant gets DEA authorization and must be able to destroy returned substances on site.
  2. The National Customer Support Center approves the quality of its labels and barcodes.
  3. The registrant sends a letter of request to the director of Product Classification.
  4. The letter includes its DEA registration and a $50,000 surety bond or letter of credit.
  5. Once authorized, it gives users ready-made packaging with no marks that show its contents.

Postage is prepaid with Priority Mail Return service or Business Reply Mail parcels. A collector that stops or transfers operations tells the director of Product Classification.

Cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and ENDS

ENDS, Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, are electronic devices that deliver nicotine, flavor or another substance as an aerosol, such as e-cigarettes. USPS calls each cigarette, smokeless tobacco product or ENDS a covered product. Covered products are generally nonmailable unless an exception covers the shipment. The minimum age to send or receive one is 21.

These exceptions make covered products mailable:

  • Shipments within Alaska or within Hawaii, handed to a USPS employee face to face.
  • Business or regulatory mailings between licensed businesses and government agencies, with eligibility set by the PCSC director.
  • Small noncommercial mailings by individual adults, such as gifts.
  • Cigarettes that licensed manufacturers send to verified adult smokers for consumer testing.
  • Cigarettes that federal agencies send while testing tobacco products for public health.

The exceptions never cover international mail, mail to APO, FPO or DPO addresses, or mail not handed to a USPS employee face to face. Business applicants use PS Form 4615 for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. For ENDS they use PS Form 4615-E with Worksheets 4615-EM and 4615-ER. Consumer-testing applicants use PS Form 4616.

Applications/Forms

Adult birds

Disease-free adult birds may be mailed within the United States when the shipment follows every applicable law, such as the Lacey Act. Live birds are perishable matter, mailed at the mailer's own risk when packaged as required and deliverable before they deteriorate. Adult birds travel only by Priority Mail Express, and never by international mail. Each bird weighs more than 6 ounces and no more than 25 pounds.

Birds ship without food or water, because liquids and loose food can damage the container, other mail and USPS equipment. Each container is marked as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires. A Live Animal and Perishable Handling Fee applies to live animals entered at retail and commercial prices, and it is nonrefundable.

The mailer uses a container that the director of Product Classification approved in advance. A mailer without one submits its own container, with proof that it passed a 3-day challenge test with a full container of live birds. It sends Product Classification a ready-to-mail container and results from an independent testing facility. The test shows the birds are neither harmed nor more stressed than in conventionally ventilated containers from 0° F to 99° F.

The container meets these requirements and those of Packaging Instruction 10D:

  • It stays intact and withstands crushing in transit.
  • It keeps the birds from breaking it or escaping.
  • It holds shavings or other absorbent material.
  • It has a plastic inspection window under a fiberboard flap that lifts.
  • Its filtered ventilation lets the birds breathe and limits handler contact with waste.
  • It is marked Live Birds - USPS Approved Container #, with an up arrow and full delivery and return addresses.

Quick Service Guides

Fact Sheets

Rules

All mailers, including mail service providers and other mailer agents, must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and Postal Service policies governing mailability and preparation for mailing, as well as non-Postal laws and regulations on the shipment of particular matter.

Every mailer, mail service providers and agents included, must follow USPS mailability and preparation policy and every other law on what it ships.

A mailpiece known or suspected to contain a Category B infectious substance must bear the proper shipping name "Biological Substance, Category B" and must be assigned to and marked with identification number UN3373 (as shown in Exhibit 346.12).

A piece known or suspected to hold a Category B infectious substance must show the shipping name Biological Substance, Category B and the number UN3373.

Regulated medical waste and sharps medical waste as defined in 346.12(f) and 346.12(g) and containing materials classified as Category B infectious substances must be marked UN3291 and are permitted for mailing only using USPS Returns Service (refer to DMM 505.3) via USPS Ground Advantage service.

Medical waste that holds a Category B substance must be marked UN3291 and must travel as USPS Returns service by USPS Ground Advantage.

Toy Propellant Devices (e.g., model rocket motors or igniters) (UN0454 or NA0323): Classified as Division 1.4S, these devices may be mailed via surface transportation with prior written permission from the director, Product Classification (refer to 214 for contact information).

A toy propellant device may travel by surface transportation once the director of Product Classification has given written permission.

An approval letter must be obtained from the PCSC director prior to mailing.

A mailer must have an approval letter from the PCSC director before mailing lighters.

DEA-registered mail-back collectors must also obtain authorization from the Postal Service before implementing any mail-back program by submitting a letter of request to the director, Product Classification (refer to 214 for contact information).

A DEA-registered collector must get USPS authorization, by a letter of request to the director of Product Classification, before starting a mail-back program.

Mailers, recipients, and applicants must retain records to establish compliance with the requirements in 473 for a 6-year period and must make such records available to the Postal Service upon request.

Mailers, recipients and applicants under a tobacco exception must keep compliance records for 6 years and must show them to USPS on request.

Mailers must use containers that have been pre-approved by the director, Product Classification.

A mailer of adult birds must use a container that the director of Product Classification approved in advance.

What goes wrong

Anyone who knowingly mails dangerous matter or breaks postal hazardous materials laws may owe a civil penalty per violation, cleanup costs and criminal penalties. USPS employees report nonmailable explosives found in the mail right away. Fireworks and small arms ammunition are never mailable.

Ethanol mailings without an authorization letter are refused. A medical waste vendor retrieves its pieces held at processing facilities, such as for a missing return address.

USPS will not accept, forward or deliver a package it knows or reasonably believes holds nonmailable covered products. Such products are subject to seizure and forfeiture, and seized products are destroyed. Business or regulatory eligibility lapses after 3 years with no mailings, and the mailer must apply again.

USPS pays indemnity for adult birds only for loss, damage or missing contents, not for a death in transit without visible damage to the container. It refunds no postage when the Priority Mail Express piece was delivered or attempted within 3 days of mailing.

Appealing a postmaster's decision.

  1. The mailer files a written appeal with the PCSC, which issues the initial agency ruling.
  2. The mailer may appeal that ruling to the director of Product Classification.
  3. A final agency decision may be appealed in writing to the Judicial Officer.

Terms

Publication 52Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail, Pub 52
The scope of this publication extends to all articles and materials that are considered hazardous, restricted, or perishable.
Hazardous MaterialsHAZMAT
Any article or substance designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as being capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property during transportation. Not all hazardous materials are mailable, and those that are mailable must be prepared, documented, and marked according to specific requirements.
restricted matter
Any item on which certain mailing restrictions have been imposed for legal reasons other than risk of harm to persons or property involved in moving the mail and that require specific endorsements and markings. Examples include intoxicating liquors, abortive or contraceptive devices, odd-shaped items in envelopes, motor vehicle master keys, locksmithing devices as well as odor-producing materials, certain liquids and powders, battery-powered devices, and certain tobacco products.
perishable matter
An item (such as produce, live animal, or live plant) that can deteriorate in the mail and thereby lose value, create a health hazard, or cause a nuisance or disturbance under ordinary mailing conditions. Such matter usually requires special packaging.
mailability
The eligibility of an item or mailpiece to be accepted into the mail because it meets size, weight, and other preparation criteria and its contents are not prohibited by law as mail. Some mailpieces are prohibited because they do not meet required size or weight standards. Other mailpieces that meet size and weight standards are prohibited because of legally mandated content restrictions (such as certain hazardous materials).
nonmailable articles and substances
(1) Anything that, by statute, “may kill or injure another, or injure the mails or other property.” There are some exceptions to this rule that allow otherwise nonmailable items to be mailed. (2) Certain animals and plants, items with noxious odors, and items improperly packaged for mailing.
infectious substancebiohazardous material
A material known or reasonably expected to contain a pathogen that can cause disease in humans or animals. A designation for a regulated material that can include infectious substances, biological products, regulated medical waste, sharps medical waste, used health care products, and forensic materials. Certain substances are not permitted in domestic or international mail, unless intended for medical or veterinary use, research, or laboratory certification related to the public health. Infectious substances permitted in the mail must be prepared, packaged, and marked according to specific requirements.
UN Number
The United Nations (UN) four-digit identification number assigned to a hazardous material that is recognized for use in international and domestic commerce and transportation.
shipping paper
Domestically, a shipping paper means a shipping order, bill of lading, waybill, or manifest, per 49 CFR § 171.8, which identifies hazardous materials being offered for surface transportation.
Electronic Nicotine Delivery SystemENDS
Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS): Any electronic device that delivers nicotine, flavor, or any other substance through an aerosolized solution.
Priority Mail ExpressPME, next-day delivery
An expedited service for shipping any mailable matter, subject to certain standards such as size and weight limits and certain hazardous materials restrictions, with a money-back guarantee for next-day or second-day delivery in most cases.
Pricing and Classification Service CenterPCSC, Pricing and Classifications Service Center, Pricing Classification Service Center, Pricing and Classification Center, Product Classification Service Center
The Pricing and Classification Service Center (PCSC) is a national center that provides one source for mail classification decisions which serves both external customers and field employees in need of direction on price application, mail eligibility and mailing standards.

Contacts

  • Product Classification, for approvals and appeals: 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW Rm 4446, Washington DC 20260-5015, productclassification@usps.gov.
  • The PCSC, for rulings and for lighter and tobacco approvals: 90 Church St Ste 3100, New York NY 10007-2951, (212) 330-5300, PCSC@usps.gov.
  • Tobacco exception applications: MDA@usps.gov.

Sources