Effective March 1, 2023, all shipments to the European Union (EU) must use the Harmonized System (HS) Tariff Code on all customs forms and any electronic shipping data. To comply with this mandate, all shipments must have an accurate description and at least 6 digits of HS Tariff Code.
All outbound international packages must follow this new requirement. This includes gifts, eCommerce orders, personal, military, or business mail. Every item in a package must be listed with a specific description on the customs declaration form. A specific description may not be a general category such as clothes, appliance, electronic, etc. The specific description must be the actual item, such as men's shirt, microwave, laptop, etc.
Countries that follow the EU Customs Rule and will be requiring the use of the HS Tariff System are:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Republic of Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Shipper Responsibility
Shippers are responsible for providing the correct HS Tariff Code per this new regulation. Failure to comply with this new mandate may result in noncompliance fees, delays to shipment, return of goods, and the increased threat of fraud and security risks to the EU.
To find the correct HS Tariff Code for your shipment, please visit the US International Trade Administration. Remember that to comply with this mandate, you must supply 6 digits of HS Tariff Code and the specific description of the shipment.
Setting Up the Harmonized System Tariff Code in Teapplix
To set up the HS Tariff Code in Teapplix, you may upload a CSV file to bulk update all products or manually edit each product and enter the HS Tariff Code.
When importing a CSV file to bulk update all products, please ensure the CSV file contains two columns: Teapplix SKU, Harmonized Tariff Code.
To Manually edit each product, go to Inventory-->Products page. Select edit on the product you wish to update and enter the proper HS Tariff Code for that product.
Once you have set up the HS Tariff Code for every product, Teapplix will use it for the international shipping labels to the EU.