Postal Customs in Poland

Does anyone know what you would call customs in Polish? I sent my girlfriend a cd player in the mail and I think there is a problem with customs.

gosh, that was foolhardy i mean brave of you...

why do you say that?

the phrase 'and it was never seen or heard of again' springs to mind...

Well she got a letter at the post office and she says there is a problem with my box but she doesn't know how to explain it to me in English. She asked if there was someone I can talk to or something. I'm thinking it's an issue with customs, is the word I'm looking for cło or odprowa?

i cant help you with that s_j sorry

"cło" means customs (as the amount of money you have to pay),
"odprawa celna" - I don't know the English term exactly, but it's when you declare you have/don't have anything subject to customs (or some other goods that need special documnets to brought in/out of the country)

did you send it from EU?

No and that is probably why there is a problem. I sent it from a U.S. postal office. The last time I sent her a package I sent it from the Deutsch Post and there was no problem. It could also be though because I'm sending her an electronic device (cd player). The last time I sent a package it was just chocolates and a teddy bear. She said something about them wanting to know how much it cost. I guess if it's over a certain amount she might have to pay a tax on it or something?

she should just call some customs office and ask what are the laws in this case

Well today she got a letter telling her about the problem. She said the letter is kind of confusing so tomorrow she's going to the post office to find out what we need to do.

S_J, I sent 6 DvDs and some photos to a friend in Elblag, and I had to declare the items as worthless so that my friend didn't have to pay taxes... that was the hold up with my experience.

Thanks for the information Northwood. She went back to the post office and they gave her a number to call. She contacted them and basically all she has to do is send in a letter to them stating the value of the items, and then they will send it to her.

Sounds about right. We have this issue, believe it or not, between Canada and America! All so silly.

The custom is, whatever the situation, make sure it arrives late. My mum sent my Xmas parcel on the 19th of November. She predicted that it'd arrive early Dec. She didn't leave it to chance. When did the parcel mysteriously show up? January the 8th.

Merry Xmas ;)

I seem to remember that a package from America to Poland was exempt from customs if the declared value was below $20 or $25 - does anyone know if this is true?

I am about to have a small computer part delivered from Austria - are there any such customs' limits in regards to packages within the EU/Schengen? Thank you...

Nope. Import what you like, no-one will care - unless the goods attract excise duties.

We had a similar problem US to Poland. We got a letter from the customs office. We called and the man said that we needed to declare the value of the package and in our case declare that it was not a purchase but a gift in writing. It was a car part for my American car that my father sent to me so it was technically a gift. I don't know what would have happened had it been a surprise gift that I did not know the value of.

Also I recently received Easter presents sent by my parents to my children (US to Poland) by priority post. Happy Easter in November!