Shipments going outside the EU will involve customs formalities and documents you will have to add. What these are depends on the customs requirements of the country to which you are exporting, the type of product you are shipping and the value of the product.

All goods being shipped to countries outside the EU go through customs. Depending on the destination, you must therefore include a commercial invoice. If your product has no commercial value then that’s what you should write on the invoice: ‘No commercial value’..

Customs uses a goods code or European HS code (Harmonised System) to classify products. This code comprises at least 8 digits. By using this code customs authorities know:

• Which products are in the shipment.

• How much import duty and other import taxes must be levied on them. Note: If the code is not completed correctly, customs authorities may classify your products in a different product category. This could mean you pay a different rate, and there is also the chance that you may be fined for an incorrect classification. In extreme cases customs may not issue a Customs Release.

• You can find HS codes to classify your products yourself on KVK.nl among other sites.

• To determine the goods code of your product, remember that many products are not found literally using their generally-used names.

• For instance a ‘laptop’ or a ‘tablet’ must be classified as a ‘portable automatic data-processing machine weighing no more than 10 kg’.