Being clear about what we refuse is part of being a professional agent. It protects you from a supply chain you cannot defend, and it protects us from becoming the route by which something illegal reaches a market.
We will not source
- Counterfeit, replica or trademark-infringing goods. Including "unbranded versions" of a branded product, lookalike packaging, and products whose design copies a protected one. If you cannot show the right to have it made, we will not have it made.
- Weapons, ammunition, and their components. Including realistic imitations and items designed to be converted.
- Controlled substances and their precursors, and paraphernalia designed for their use.
- Products of protected or endangered species, including ivory, protected timber and restricted wildlife products.
- Goods subject to sanctions or export control where the transaction, the parties or the destination fall within a restriction.
- Products that cannot lawfully be sold in your destination market — including items requiring certification you do not hold and do not intend to obtain.
- Surveillance and interception equipment intended for covert use against individuals.
- Sexual content involving minors, or any product designed to sexualise children. Reported, not merely declined.
We will normally decline
Some categories are lawful but carry risk we will not take on without a specific conversation: medical devices and anything making a health claim, food and supplements for human consumption, cosmetics for sensitive use, child car seats and other life-safety products, and lithium-cell products where the buyer is unwilling to fund proper certification and dangerous-goods handling.
This is not squeamishness. These categories fail differently: a defect in a phone case costs you a return, and a defect in a car seat costs a child. If you are serious about one of them, bring the certification budget to the first conversation.
What happens if we find out later
If a project turns out to involve something on this list after work has started, we stop. We tell you why, we do not place further orders, and where we are legally required to report something, we report it. Fees already earned for work performed remain payable; nothing further is charged.
Why we publish this
An agent who will source anything is telling you something about how it verifies suppliers. If we are willing to put a counterfeit in your container, nothing else we say about diligence means very much.
