Products that can't be shipped
"We have certain products that can't be shipped to certain countries, and Zonos restricts — 5 stars"
Restriction compliance is complex, high-stakes, and constantly changing
Regulations vary by country, product category, HS code, and carrier. What's freely shippable today may be restricted tomorrow. Getting it wrong means returns, seized shipments, compliance penalties, and lost customer trust.
Regulations that defy manual review
Import and export regulations differ by country and product type. Manual review of government trade databases doesn't scale—and outdated data is worse than no data at all.
Carrier restrictions compound the problem
FedEx, UPS, USPS, and postal operators each maintain their own restricted item lists, independent of government regulations. A compliant shipment may still be carrier-prohibited.
The cost of getting it wrong
A single restricted item reaching the border creates delays, fines, and return shipment costs—far exceeding the cost of checking before it ships.
Zonos Restrict evaluates items against an expansive, continuously updated dataset of import restrictions, export restrictions, and carrier-specific rules. Submit an item with its HS code, description, and origin/destination countries—and get back a clear restriction result with an AI confidence score in milliseconds.
Import and export restrictions in a single call
Restrict checks both the importing country's rules and the exporting country's requirements simultaneously, so you get a complete compliance picture without multiple lookups.
Carrier restriction coverage
Beyond government regulations, Restrict surfaces carrier-specific prohibitions—so you know not just whether an item is legal to ship, but whether your carrier will actually move it.
Three result types, clearly labeled
Every result is categorized as a prohibition (cannot ship), restriction (conditionally shippable), or observation (informational flag)—so your team and your systems know exactly what action to take.
How Zonos Restrict works
01 — Submit item details
Submit the item's name, description, HS code, ship-from country, and ship-to country. Optional inputs like materials, category, brand, and carrier narrow the results further.
02 — Match against the dataset
Restrict matches the item against a comprehensive dataset of government import/export regulations and carrier-specific restriction lists, filtered by HS code and destination.
03 — AI refinement
Semantic search and the Zonos AI restriction model refine the initial matches, filtering out restrictions that don't apply to the specific item—dramatically reducing false positives.
04 — Receive scored results
Each applicable restriction is returned with a type (prohibition, restriction, or observation), a human-readable summary, and a confidence score—ready for your system to act on.
Legacy restriction tools matched items to restrictions based solely on HS code, ship-from country, and ship-to country—returning broad, unrefined lists with a high rate of false positives. The new Restrict pipeline targets a false-positive rate of 1 in 10,000, down from 8 in 1,000, through a multi-step AI refinement process that gets smarter with every item processed.
Dataset matching
Items are matched against Restrict's curated global restriction dataset, covering import and export regulations from government trade databases and carrier rule sets across every major shipping destination.
Semantic search refinement
Embedding-based semantic search filters the initial match set down to restrictions that are genuinely relevant to the item's description, materials, and category—not just its HS code heading.
AI restriction model scoring
A purpose-built AI model assigns a confidence score to each remaining restriction, indicating how likely it is to apply to this specific item. High-confidence matches surface clearly; low-confidence noise is filtered out.
Self-improving over time
As Restrict processes more items, the pipeline learns from real-world results—continuously improving coverage and reducing false positives for the item types your business ships most.
Built for the compliance realities your business faces
Stop restricted items before they ship
Integrate Restrict into your pre-shipment workflow and catch prohibited and restricted items before a label is printed—not after a package is returned from customs.
Manage what you sell and where you sell it
Use Restrict data to configure rules in the Zonos Dashboard—blocking checkout for restricted items by destination country before a customer ever completes a purchase.
Built on the Zonos AI suite
Restrict does not stand alone—it is powered by the same data infrastructure and AI models that run across the Zonos platform, with a restriction pipeline purpose-built for global trade compliance.
Global restriction dataset
Restrict's dataset is sourced from global government trade databases and carrier rule sets, continuously refined to stay current as regulations change.
Purpose-trained AI models
The same AI infrastructure that powers Classify and Country of Origin drives Restrict's semantic matching and confidence scoring—purpose-trained on restriction data.
Pairs with Zonos Greenlight
Pair Restrict with Greenlight for a complete compliance picture: Restrict handles item-level rules, Greenlight handles five export compliance checks in a single call.
Who uses Zonos Restrict
Merchants and marketplaces
Block restricted items from being listed or purchased for destinations where they cannot legally or practically ship—protecting revenue and avoiding costly returns.
Carriers and postal operators
Validate shipper-provided item data against restriction rules before accepting a shipment—reducing liability and downstream clearance failures.
Package forwarders
Screen items against import and export restrictions before packages enter or leave the postal network, catching prohibited goods before they create compliance incidents.
What is Zonos Restrict?
Zonos Restrict is an AI-powered item restriction API that determines whether a specific item can be shipped between two countries. It checks against import regulations, export regulations, and carrier-specific rules, returning a categorized result—prohibition, restriction, or observation—with a confidence score for each applicable rule.
What inputs does Restrict require?
Restrict requires the item's name, description, HS code, ship-from country, and ship-to country. Optional fields—including materials, category, brand, and carrier—help narrow results and improve accuracy. The more detail provided, the more precise the output.
What is the difference between a prohibition, a restriction, and an observation?
A prohibition means the item cannot be shipped to that destination under the applicable rules. A restriction means the item can be shipped conditionally—subject to documentation, licensing, or other requirements. An observation is an informational flag that does not block shipment but may be relevant to the shipper or recipient.
How does Restrict handle carrier restrictions?
Carrier restrictions are checked in addition to government import and export rules. If a carrier is specified in the request, Restrict returns that carrier's specific rules for the item and destination. If no carrier is specified, Restrict defaults to returning common carrier restrictions so the result remains actionable.
How accurate is Restrict?
The current Restrict pipeline targets a false-positive rate of 1 in 10,000—meaning fewer than 1 in 10,000 items are flagged as restricted when they are not. This represents an approximately 80x improvement over legacy HS-code-only matching, achieved through a multi-step pipeline of dataset matching, semantic search refinement, and AI confidence scoring.
How does Restrict differ from Zonos Greenlight?
Restrict focuses on item-level compliance: whether a specific product can be shipped to a specific destination based on its HS code, description, and physical properties. Greenlight focuses on export compliance at the shipment level, running five checks—including denied party screening, restricted party lists, and embargoed country checks—in a single API call. The two products complement each other and can be used together for end-to-end compliance coverage.
How does Restrict relate to Zonos Screen?
Screen checks whether the parties involved in a transaction—shipper, recipient, or importer of record—appear on government denied party and sanctions lists. Restrict checks whether the items themselves are allowed to ship. Together, they cover both dimensions of cross-border compliance.
How is Restrict integrated?
Restrict is available via the Zonos API and is built into Zonos Checkout. Merchants can also configure item restriction rules directly in the Zonos Dashboard—blocking checkout for restricted items by destination country without writing additional code.
Stop restricted items before they become a problem.
Zonos Restrict gives merchants, carriers, and forwarders the AI-powered compliance layer they need to ship with confidence—across every product, every destination, every time.
Know which items can ship before they reach the border.
Zonos Restrict tells you exactly which items are prohibited, restricted, or freely shippable to any destination—based on import and export regulations, carrier rules, and compliance requirements. One API call. Instant answer. Try it below, up to 3 uses.
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