The Internet has made it easy to find and purchase items from almost anywhere in the world. However, many people are discovering that getting a foreign-bought item successfully delivered to the United States is much more complicated. When goods move from any foreign country to the United States, they are being IMPORTED. There are specific rules and regulations that govern the act of importing – and they can be extremely complex and confusing – and costly.

That artisan cheese from Italy may be a snap to find and buy on the Internet, but the U.S. Customs Service could seize your purchase because certain regulations prohibit the importation of dairy products from particular countries without a permit.

Your great auction purchase of gorgeous linen products? Depending upon the country of origin, quota restrictions could hold them up in Customs for a long time. And storage charges in such cases can be expensive.

In other words, “Buyer, Beware.” When you buy goods from foreign sources, you become the importer. And it is the importer – in this case, YOU – who is responsible for assuring that the goods comply with a variety of both state and federal government import regulations. Importing goods that are unsafe, that fail to meet health code requirements, or that violate quota restrictions could end up costing you quite a bit of money in fines and penalties. At the very least, such goods would be detained, and possibly destroyed, by Customs.

Knowing what is admissible is just part of the story. The other part is knowing how to import. Depending upon what you are importing and its value, the procedures can be very complicated.

It does not matter whether you bought the item from an established business or from an individual selling items in an on-line auction. If merchandise, used or new, is imported into the United States, it must clear Customs and may be subject to the payment of duty as well as to whatever rules and regulations govern the importation of that particular product into the United States.