Statement from Parcelforce 10-JAN:
"
We have been advised by Poste Italiane that severe delays are still being experienced in processing postal items due to serious IT problems in Italian customs. This is still affecting all postal shipments from outside the EU. Although we are continuing to process and despatch items to Italy at the moment, due to these technical issues being experienced once they arrive they currently face delays of at least several weeks before being processed by customs and delivered by Poste Italiane. We are in constant dialogue with Poste Italiane but they have so far been unable to give us a date when these issues will be resolved. These issues are affecting all Parcelforce Worldwide international services with the exception of Euro Priority and Global Express. Therefore, as of 22nd December, we are changing our advice to strongly recommend you do not post items to Italy until Poste Italiane have made substantial progress in clearing the backlog. We currently anticipate that will be early in the New Year. They have assured us that they have a plan in place, we will be monitoring it very closely, and will update further when we are comfortable that your items will be processed and delivered within normal timescales.
"