In Australia we have very strict laws about shipping goods classed as dangerous goods. The majority of liquid chemicals used in the nail industry are classed as dangerous goods Class 3. The only way these can be sent around the country is either through Australia Post or Courier.

To send such items through Australia Post you need a contract with them and a Dangerous Goods Contract as well. To send via Courier is not a viable option either because only a handful will take on DG goods for same city delivery but the majority will not send interstate, so that brings us back to Australia Post as the fastest and most cost effective way to ship dangerous goods.

Because of State, Federal and International laws and regulations, monomer, anti-bac, acetone, nail polish remover, primer, nail prep, cleanser plus, nail polish etc are classed as Class 3 Dangerous goods and it is illegal to transport them through Australia Post without a DG contract, it is illegal to send them via airmail internationally as well, and this also applies to international sellers shipping into Australia, they are not allowed to do this unless they are sent via international courier with full DG declarations (very expensive import option).

Unfortunately there are people in the nail industry wanting to be suppliers who give no thought to possible consequences of their actions. An example is someone who posted 7ml of monomer interstate, there were not DG warnings on the package, nor was there any return address. Can you imagine what would have happened if this parcel had accidently been pierced or crumbled and the plastic bottle it was in had burst, the stench of the monomer would have closed down an Australia Post delivery centre, it could have caused someone to have a bad reaction, generally it would have caused chaos. Now this 7mls was actually posted in this manner, it was not packaged correctly for a DG item (there are special packing requirements for DG items that must be adhered to). This 7ml soft plastic bottle was packed with a very small amount of small bubblewrap, had stamps on it and was put into an Australia Post Box. The sender did not put a return address on it quite deliberately because she did not want to get caught if something went wrong. This was an ebay seller here in Australia that did this and when the buyer confronted her about she demanded it be posted back to her, failing to understand after being told several times that it could not be posted back and she also refused to supply the MSDS when requested.

The graphic attached to this post is a Road Transport Only sticker which suppliers who hold an Australia Post DG contract will put on your parcel to warn Postal Workers to take care of your parcel. Your supplier will have also filled out a DG manifest for your order which Australia Post pick up when your parcel is picked up for delivery.

If you receive a parcel containing DG items and there is no declaration on the outside, please report this to Australia Post by ringing 13 76 18 and giving them the suppliers details. Please do not buy such items from overseas because if the supplier is shipping via International Post, they are breaking the law.

Help us to keep our environment safe and not put other’s health and safety at risk by people who do not care about your health and safety but only care about lining their own pockets.

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