Customs data per product

Customs declarations for parcels are short, and they are refused for the same few reasons: a vague description, a wrong code, a missing origin. Each of those is a fact about the product rather than about the parcel, which means it can be set once and reused on every declaration the product ever travels on.

The product description

"Clothes" or "accessories" is not a description. Customs expects the type of item, its material and its purpose: "women's knitted cotton jumper", "men's leather belt", "stainless steel water bottle, 750 ml". A precise description also supports the customs code, because the code depends on those facts.

The customs code

The Harmonised System gives every product a six-digit code that is the same worldwide. The EU's Combined Nomenclature extends it to eight digits for exports and statistics, and the TARIC adds two more for imports into the EU, which is where duty rates and measures sit. The extra digits can change the duty, and the codes are revised, so a code carried over from an old spreadsheet has to be checked against the current nomenclature. Copying a supplier's code without checking it is a frequent error.

Most refusals come down to a fact about the product. Set the facts once, on the product.

Origin, value and weight

The country of origin is where the product was made or last substantially transformed, not where it was shipped from. The value is the price the customer paid, in its currency. The net weight per item and the gross weight of the parcel go on the declaration too, and they have to agree with the carrier's measurement.

Your registration numbers

An EORI number identifies the business to customs across the whole EU: one number, issued by the member state where the business is established, or for a non-EU business by the member state where it first performs a customs operation. For low-value consumer sales into the EU, an IOSS number, the letters IM followed by ten digits, tells customs the VAT was charged at checkout; it covers VAT only, not duty. Exports to other markets carry that market's own registration, as Selling to the UK, Switzerland and Norway explains. From 1 November 2026, consumer imports into the EU also carry product identifiers on the declaration, covered in the border guide.

Postal items

Parcels in the postal network use the Universal Postal Union's forms. The CN22, a small label, covers items up to 300 special drawing rights in value; the CN23, a larger form in a transparent wallet, covers anything above. Both carry the same per-item facts as any other declaration.

The data in your account

The passport wizard's compliance step holds the eight-digit HS code, the country of origin, the weights and the dangerous-goods class for each product; purchase order lines carry the country of manufacture and the HS code from the start. The label and the declaration are built from that record, so a code corrected once is corrected on every parcel after it, and the same facts serve the passport. Whoever files the declaration, the carrier or your broker, receives them with the shipment.