Trouble-free customs processing.
Trouble-free customs processing.
Depending on the customs regulations of the country of destination and the type of goods to be transported, various documents are required in international shipping. Our export guidelines will tell you which regulations must be observed for international shipping with DPD.
The terms of delivery determine which ancillary transport costs are borne by the shipper and which by the consignee. Outside the EU further fees, taxes and customs duties may apply. As a standard, DAP customs cleared is always used, unless the shipper provides other details on the invoice.
Customs exclusion areas are states or areas that are not assigned to the EU under customs law. This means that customs clearance must be carried out when shipping to these states or areas.
The states/territories are:
Import tax, customs & excise duties
Possibly, import tax clearance and presentation commission may be payable by the freight forwarder.
The customs declaration is the act by which a person indicates the intention to subject goods to a particular customs procedure.
The customs declaration for the export of goods to countries outside the European Community has become obsolete in the classic paper form, and has been replaced by a computerised NCTS customs system (ATLAS transmission) in line with the electronic declaration requirement.
Consignments of goods are always subject to customs duties if they are exported to or come from a country that is not a member state of the European Community (EU).
If you ship within the EU, customs and customs declaration are not required.
When exporting goods to a non-EU country (third country), you must attach accompanying customs documents. These depend in particular on the regulations in the destination country, the value of the goods or the contents of the shipment.
This rule also applies to shipments to EU exemption areas. EU exemption areas are:
During the export process goods with a value of over €1000 which are exported from the EU to a non-EU country are declared electronically to the customs authorities using the ATLAS export procedure or using the IAA-Plus (Internet export declaration+, confirmation by means of ELSTER certificate). This is also required if the goods value for an individual shipping date to various consignees in the relevant country of destination exceeds €1000.
The accompanying export document replaces the previous declaration on the single administrative document (form 0733). You will receive the accompanying export document with the Movement Reference Number (MRN) required for the export after the export declaration has been successfully processed by your customs office. In simple terms: a T1 (Transit document 1)
If special customs regulations or sanctions apply in the case of the particular country, even shipments with a goods value of below €1000 have to be declared. In such cases the required permits and any other relevant documents have to be available during customs clearance. More information is available from the Customs or your Chamber of Commerce.
The export declaration should be implemented at the latest 24 hours before the shipment is handed to the DPD dispatch depot.
As was previously the case, small shipments with a value below €1000 which are not subject to prohibitions and restrictions do not need to be declared electronically.
Because parcels are not necessarily processed at customs offices with the status of an office of exit, we recommend that shipments should be exported via the two-stage normal procedure (customs office at the company location). After that the shipment with all further export documents and the accompanying export document is handed to DPD.
The EU’s TARIC information system provides you with details of goods numbers, value limits and descriptions of goods.
The EU internal market has significantly facilitated trade within the 28 member countries, and this has also been helped by the introduction of the VAT identification number within the EU. At the same time new regulations have been introduced for trade with non-EU countries. Accordingly internal EU commerce is differentiated from the worldwide export trade.
There are no customs duties on goods movements between EU countries. Customs formalities have also been lifted for exports, which means that no customs documents are required anymore for the shipment of goods from one member state to another, unless the goods are subject to excise duties (e.g. alcohol, tobacco, oil) or are politically sensitive and subject to export controls.
The relevant permits are obtained from the Federal Office for the Economy and Export Control (BAFA).
The INTRASTAT declaration for goods movement within the EU is mandatory for companies which are subject to VAT and ship or receive an annual volume of goods in excess of €500,000. This enables the Federal Statistical Office to record the movement of EU goods between member countries. It is not to be confused with the summary statement with which each company has to declare its internal EU sales to the Federal Central Tax Office.
The EORI number (Economic Operators´ Registration and Identification) is the successor of the customs number at the European level. It serves to identify economic operators and to simplify automated customs processing.
EORI numbers are allocated by the customs authority and are required for customs processing within the European Union.
The EORI number can contain up to 17 digits. It begins with the two-digit country ISO code of the relevant member state. You can check on the central EU database if an EORI No. has already been generated for your company.
Indicating their EORI number is mandatory for economic operators. Private individuals are not obliged to enter an EORI number in customs declarations. If the goods to be exported require a permit, however, then even private persons have to enter an EORI number.
In cross-border parcel shipping the EORI number is mandatory for customs processing.
Ad valorem duties are calculated on the basis of the customs value.
AES stands for \"Automated Export System\", ECS for \"Export Control System\"; both are abbreviations of an international IT project which the European Commission has set up together with member states for the export sector. AES is used to accept electronic export declarations and to exchange data electronically between customs offices of export and exit. The corresponding IT process is called ATLAS. The electronic export procedure ATLAS export replaced the previous paper-based export procedure on 1 July 2009. Thus, electronic data exchange with customs authorities became binding for companies in international trade as of July 1, 2009. The electronic transmission of export data between the various national settlement systems is carried out via ECS.
On 1 July 2009 the ATLAS Export electronic export procedure replaced the previous paper-based export procedure. This made electronic data exchange with customs authorities binding for companies in international trade from 1 July 2009. The electronic transmission of export data between the various national settlement systems is carried out via ECS. ATLAS is thus an automated tariff and local customs processing system, an IT procedure or so-called customs software.

In accordance with the applicable customs regulations, every shipment of goods or documents outside the EU must be declared. This means that the goods have to be accompanied by a commercial invoice or a pro forma invoice.
A commercial invoice is drawn up when the goods have commercial value.
A pro forma invoice is drawn up if the goods have no commercial value.
Whether it's a commercial invoice or a pro forma invoice, the document indicates the consignor and consignee, contains a full description of the contents of the shipment and details of their value. It is then signed by the consignor, who sends the original and three copies with the parcel.
This online form enables you to create your commercial invoice or pro forma invoice and print it out on your company stationery.
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