The problem for people in the USA is the USA and the way its regulations work. People in the UK are in fact more free than those in the USA in that they are allowed to import things for personal use that are not controlled substances. Hence there may be problem via Emirates as well, but the courier may be willing to handle the risk in a different way.
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Just cross-posting this link for people who live in Singapore: Sincerely seeking help for purchase of Excess Medicine (Singapore)
Might be premature, since this is the official statement from India Post on Saturday (9/5/26):
Dear Exporter, We are pleased to inform you that the booking of PGA (Partner Government Agency) shipments to the USA is expected to resume soon. The Technical Team at CEPT, Mysore, is currently working on the necessary software validations that are required to be made mandatory in connection with PGA shipments. The required software changes and validations are presently under development, and the booking facility for such shipments will be resumed once the necessary implementation and testing are completed. Further, any compliances required from exporters and the necessary guidelines for booking PGA shipments will be communicated separately once the software development work is completed and the system is ready for implementation. We appreciate your patience and cooperation in this regard. Further updates regarding the resumption of booking of PGA shipments to the USA will be communicated shortly. Regards,
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You’re right. I checked with the vendor who sent me that message and he backtracked on his statement. Then, I searched Reddit just this morning and saw what appears to be the same thing you’ve found.
My guy just shipped through Emirates and it made it through customs. I’m in the US
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Did he charge you extra for shipping this way? What did you pay for shipping?
I didn’t pay extra. I paid $25 I believe
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Heard from maulik that India shipments have restarted.
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My niece hit some insurance issues during the transition to college. I made a purchase for her not realizing it would ship through Dubai, although I was surprised by the shipping costs (I have used the same seller for a while and can usually get a better deal). It’s taken a long while to reach Dubai, and now it’s taking longer than usual to show up in the USA.
I was planning to wait until late winter to place an order for myself, but if things might be getting worse, and if this package gets through shortly, then maybe I should consider moving my purchase up to squeeze something through Dubai while that’s an option.
Let us know how it goes. I have some purchases I want to spring for come the Nov-Dec-Jan period.
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Canadian online pharmacy notified my wife that prescriptions will no longer be shipped to USA with US customs entry on or after Oct 22, 2026. The exemption for personal use prescription importation is being terminated by US customs, effective that date (more precisely, that is the date US Customs will be starting to strictly enforce the exemption termination that has already been in effect for some months now).
They recommended contacting our US Representative, using templates from this ORG Advocacy for Personal Importation !
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Yes, RobTuck has mentioned this recently, it’s not clear if this is Canada only policy or global all international imports. Either way, this is an outragous limit on people who rely on such shipments to get medications within their budgets. I guess, our authorities, being composed exclusively of millionairs and billionairs (take a look a the net worth of members of Congress OF EITHER PARTY - this is not a “political” post, and also the Administration decision makers) don’t care at all about affordability of life saving medication, instead prefer to play silly customs games with our neighbors. But then again, why should they care, the people affected vote for them in overwhelming numbers anyway (i.e. the elderly - we know whom they vote for mostly, corrupt incumbents of either party). Contacting your Congressional Representative… LOL.
Either way, the advice remains the same as a year ago: stock up, because “winter us coming” - dark times ahead and poor prospects for relief… odds are it’ll only get worse. YMMV.
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Has anyone gotten anything from India since it opened back up?
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The problem is not really India so much as US Customs. As people know the current incumbent in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue wants to charge tariffs on lots of things. That includes even very small imported packages. The additional difficulty is that unlike other countries the USA does not (officially) allow people to import prescription medicines. This is a bit weird given the movement towards “right to try”.
I am not personally sure what the way round this is other than emigrating from the USA.
The UK, however, has different rules.
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It is not looking good: One guy on reddit says he had one package of medications from India ordered just before the shutdown, which got confiscated by US customs. He then placed 2 more orders from India from 2 different merchants shipped via Dubai and both packages also got confiscated by US customs. He got the usual letter from US customs for all 3 packages about 3 weeks after tracking ended in US customs.
In addition, the Oct 22 deadline appears to terminate personal importation for all medications imported by US citizens into USA, from anywhere in the world. (There is a special exemption that non-US citizens present in USA on a temporary Visa can use to import up to 90 days worth of medications at a time).
The only silver lining is that if there is any way for the new electronic pre-clearance to be gamed by foreign merchants, those from India are more likely to be willing to look the other way, as long as no Indian laws are broken. So, as long as the Indian Postal service is not somehow forced by US customs to inspect all packages manually, an Indiamart merchant willing to get creative about the electronic customs declaration might be willing to continue shipping. The real risk is that US customs will have zero tolerance for any package caught with medications and might electronically blacklist both the sender and receipient subjecting all future packages to 100% screeening.
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Is there currently a window open now that closes on October 22nd? Has anyone successfully gotten any meds through in the past 8 days?
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That US customs will charge a penalty on the carrier so the carrier exercises greater control.
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@BGpharmaceuticals
I ordered September 2nd and paid September 3rd. How do we proceed here? Do you send the items or do you refund?
I had a great experience with all former orders with you, so looking forward.
Thanks a lot!
He’s not active here, only on thinksteroids.
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Jagdish took my order, sent me an invoice and I paid. Then he told me that shipments were paused because of tariffs. Since then he hasn’t answered emails or WhatsApp messages.
I did get an order from AllDayChemist recently, but they are more expensive.