Category file · cheese

Buy Swiss cheese
where it can legally go.

Gruyère, Emmentaler, Appenzeller, Tête de Moine, Sbrinz and alpine cheeses from regional affineurs.

Classified HS 0406.90Cheese, hard and semi-hard
The hardest category we handle

Cheese fails more often at the border than anything else we ship, and the rules differ sharply by country, by age and by milk treatment. Hard AOP cheese aged past sixty days clears several markets; soft and raw-milk cheese usually clears none. We check the specific wheel against your destination before buying, and we refuse a lot.

60 daysThe US ageing threshold. Most Gruyère and Emmentaler pass it comfortably
30 CHF/kgThe lowest value density we ship — freight is a large share of the total
Vacuum-packedCut, sealed and chilled before dispatch, always
We refuse a lotOn this category more than any other, and the refusal costs you nothing

Where it can go

Swiss cheese,
destination by destination.

Admissibility is decided by what the goods are, not by what they cost. This is the row of the grid for Swiss cheese — every cell links to the full country file behind it.

Can it arrive · HS 0406.906 conditional · 10 refused
United Statesconditional

Hard cheese aged over 60 days is admissible. Under 60 days and raw-milk soft cheeses are prohibited.

 Japanconditional

Small personal quantities of hard cheese generally clear. Commercial volumes need an import notification we cannot file.

 United Arab Emiratesconditional

Admissible with health and origin documentation, which we prepare.

 Singaporeconditional

Admissible from approved sources. SFA rules apply to dairy imports.

 Australiarefused

Dairy is restricted under biosecurity rules and refusal means destruction, not return. We decline.

 United Kingdomconditional

Personal quantities of hard cheese are fine. Larger volumes need commercial health certification.

 Canadarefused

Dairy is excluded from Canada-EFTA and governed by supply management. Over-quota rates past 245% are a prohibition written as a number.

 Germanyrefused

Personal imports of dairy from outside the EU customs territory are prohibited. Commercial health certification is a separate route we do not offer.

 Francerefused

Same EU rule: dairy from outside the customs territory is prohibited for personal import.

 Chinarefused

Dairy imports require registration and health certification we cannot hold. Declined.

 Indiarefused

Food of animal origin is prohibited or licence-only for personal import. Declined.

 Saudi Arabiaconditional

Hard cheese is admissible with SFDA requirements met. Anything containing alcohol or pork derivatives is refused.

 South Korearefused

Dairy requires MFDS food registration for import. Declined for personal shipments.

 South Africarefused

Food of animal origin is prohibited or permit-only for personal import. Declined.

 New Zealandrefused

New Zealand biosecurity prohibits dairy for personal import. Enforcement is thorough. Declined.

 Brazilrefused

Food of animal origin is prohibited for personal import. Declined.
Hard AOP cheese aged over sixty days assumed. Soft, washed-rind and raw-milk cheeses are refused far more widely. Showing 16 of 190 destinations — the full table is searchable, and every rule here is the same record that prices your quote.

Is it worth moving

Weight decides
more than duty does.

Air freight is charged on the greater of actual and volumetric weight, so what matters is value per chargeable kilo rather than value alone. A watch and a wheel of cheese are taxed similarly and shipped completely differently.

Freight as a share of goods valuetypical order → Japan
Swiss watches one watch3%
Swiss electronics one device6%
Swiss cosmetics two sets10%
Swiss coffee machines one machine11%
Swiss outdoor equipment a pack and a jacket22%
Swiss chocolate 20 boxes24%
Swiss cheese six pieces, 6.6 kg59%

At 30 CHF per chargeable kilo, Swiss cheese carries a heavy freight share even in quantity. Consolidate it with a denser category, or accept that the shipping will be a large part of what you pay.

Worth ordering

What actually travels.

Age and moisture decide this, not reputation. The best cheese in Switzerland is often the one we cannot send you.

  • ✓Gruyère AOP, aged 12 months or moreThe reliable choice. Comfortably past every ageing threshold and robust in transit.
  • ✓Emmentaler AOPSame story, and the one most people mean when they say Swiss cheese.
  • ✓SbrinzExtra-hard and extremely durable. The best-travelling cheese Switzerland makes.
  • ✓AppenzellerSemi-hard and generally fine, though the washed rind draws more scrutiny at some borders.
  • ✓Tête de MoineTravels well vacuum-packed. Send a girolle with it — most recipients will not have one.
  • ✓Alpine summer cheesesSmall-production wheels from Alp dairies that reach almost no foreign market.

Not worth ordering

What we refuse.

This list is longer than on any other page, and it is the most useful thing here.

  • ✕Anything to AustraliaDairy biosecurity refusal means destruction rather than return. We will not take the order.
  • ✕Soft and raw-milk cheese under 60 daysProhibited in the US and restricted almost everywhere else.
  • ✕Vacherin Mont d'OrSeasonal, soft, washed-rind and short-dated. Everything that makes it wonderful makes it unshippable.
  • ✕Commercial volumes without an importerAbove personal quantities most destinations need a licensed importer, which we are not.
  • ✕Fresh cheesesRicotta, quark, fresh goat. Days of shelf life against days of transit.
  • ✕Anything where transit exceeds a third of remaining shelf lifeWe check the date on arrival and reject on this basis during inspection.

Handling

How we pack
and move it.

Category-specific handling, applied as standard rather than sold as an upgrade.

Cutting and sealingCut to your quantity, vacuum-sealed and chilled at the affineur before dispatch.
Express onlyThis category ships express, never economy. Time in transit is the whole risk.
DocumentationHealth attestation, origin declaration and ingredient statement prepared for every consignment.
Freight shareAt 30 CHF per kilo of value this is our least freight-efficient category. Order a proper quantity or consolidate.
Refusal policyIf we expect it to be seized, we say no before you pay rather than after it is destroyed.

Where we buy it

The Swiss retailers
behind this category.

Each one has its own checkout wall, its own lead time and its own quirks. We hold accounts at all of them.

Coop

4/5 blocked
Sitecoop.ch
Strong AOP range and reliable ageing information.

Migros

4/5 blocked
Sitemigros.ch
Everyday Swiss cheese at cooperative prices.

Galaxus

3/5 blocked
Sitegalaxus.ch
Gift selections and affineur boxes.

Questions

Buying Swiss cheese, answered.

Can you send cheese to Australia?

No, and this is the clearest refusal on the site. Australian biosecurity treats dairy as a risk good, refusals are usually handled by destruction rather than return, and the value of the goods has nothing to do with the decision. Rather than take your money and hope, we decline. If you are in Australia and want something Swiss and edible, chocolate and shelf-stable groceries are genuinely fine.

What is the sixty-day rule?

A US requirement that cheese made from unpasteurised milk be aged at least sixty days before import. Most Swiss hard cheeses — Gruyère, Emmentaler, Sbrinz — are aged far longer and pass comfortably. Soft and young raw-milk cheeses do not, and no packaging or paperwork changes that. We check the specific wheel and its age before buying.

How is it packed?

Cut to your quantity and vacuum-sealed at the affineur, chilled, then shipped express in an insulated box. We do not ship this category by economy services at all — the entire risk in cheese is time, and saving CHF 60 on freight to add four days is a bad trade every time.

Is it worth the freight?

Honestly, only in quantity. At roughly 30 CHF per kilo of value, cheese is the least freight-efficient thing we handle, and a single 400 g piece costs more to fly than to buy. Even on a six-piece order the freight is well over half the goods value, and no quantity fixes that entirely. Consolidating it into a parcel with something denser is the only thing that genuinely helps.

Tell us the cheese and the country. We will tell you if it can go.

Start a request → Email a buyer

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