For the international shipping of parcels various documents are required. Depending on the type of goods and the customs requirements of the country of import these are: The commercial invoice The commercial invoice – or in some cases a pro forma invoice – must be sent with any parcel which is shipped to a country outside of the EU. Feel free to contact [email protected] for all your questions concerning import or export. The movement certificate The EUR-1 movement certificate is a preference document for goods which have been produced in the EU and is normally used for calculating the import duties which the recipient of the goods has to pay. The EUR-1 certificate applies to the movement of goods within the European Economic Area and, among others, to many countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The export declaration All shipments of goods which have a value of above 1,000.- € and are to be shipped outside of the EU must be accompanied by an export declaration. If the value is above 3,000.- € , the documentation must be processed in advanced by the responsible customs offices.

Every parcel which is shipped to a country outside of the EU must be accompanied by a commercial invoice or by a pro forma invoice. The commercial invoice is used in cases where the goods have a commercial value. A pro forma invoice is used in cases where the goods have no commercial value, e.g. shipments of gifts, samples and goods which are not destined for sale.

Volumetric weight is a standard formula which is used in the airline industry and which includes density in the calculation of the transport costs. Volumetric weight is based on the volumetric standard of IATA (International Air Transport Association). On the basis of this calculation the space which the parcel will occupy inside the aircraft is compared with the actual weight of the parcel.

The shipping cost is based on the higher of the two values, in other words either the actual overall weight or the volumetric weight of the parcel. The higher weight is then used for the calculation of the shipping tariff.

The calculation of the volumetric weight depends on the individual service provider. As a rule the following formula is used:

Length x width x height / 6000 = volumetric weight

The DPD volumetric-weight calculator will help you to calculate the volumetric weight of your parcel quickly and conveniently.

(for shipments which contain a number of packages you simply add the individual results)

With DPD you can send almost anything – to almost any country in the world. However, the shipment must not contravene the laws or regulations applicable to international goods shipping – regulations on foreign trade, for instance, or transport regulations laid down by the international air freight organisation IATA. The shipping planner gives you an overview about the required documents and the import restrictions in the destination country.

Every parcel which is shipped to a country outside of the EU must be accompanied by a commercial invoice or by a pro forma invoice. The commercial invoice is used in cases where the goods have a commercial value. A pro forma invoice is used in cases where the goods have no commercial value, e.g. shipments of gifts, samples and goods which are not destined for sale.

In both cases the document contains the relevant data about the consignor and the consignee, together with a complete description of the contents of the parcel and its value. The consignor signs the invoice and attaches it to the parcel together with five copies. With DPD the commercial invoice can be conveniently created online.

The EUR 1 certificate is a preferential document for goods that are produced inside the EU and which fulfil conditions in the various origin protocols concluded with destination countries. This preference can be important for the addressee of the goods in the country of destination for the calculation of import duty.

More information can be found here

A number of postcode areas are excluded from shipping with DPD:

• for the relevant areas please see our PDF document on excluded areas for DPD CLASSIC.
• you can consult our Express service page to download the excluded postal codes for DPD Express shipments (DPD 10 / 12 / 18 / Guarantee).

Ireland does not have a postal code system. Please specify \"1\" for Dublin, for all other destinations the \"2\".

The export declaration is mandatory for shipments to countries outside the EU when the value is more than € 1,000.  A verbal declaration can be made for goods whose value is less than € 1.000. Creation of the export declaration via the PLDA (Paperless Customs & Excise) customs system (http://plda.fgov.be/nl/welkom) has been mandatory since 23 September 2009.

For more information, click here.