International Shipping for Businesses

You may need to register for a VAT number in the EU country you’re selling to. (Register here on the European Commission website.)

If you’re selling to customers in multiple EU countries, it might be faster to register for with the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS). The IOSS was created to facilitate and simplify the declaration and payment of VAT for sales of imported goods with a value less than €150.

If you have registered for an EU Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) number, we can store it in our UPS shipping systems, eliminating the need for you to provide this number each time you make a shipment. To do so, please complete and return below Power of Attorney (PoA) document.

If you sell on an online marketplace, the marketplace is responsible for determining the intrinsic value of the goods that you sold on their platform. The VAT for those goods can be paid through the new IOSS platform. 

If you do not provide UPS with the Power of Attorney document, please ensure that your IOSS number is entered in your UPS shipping system for each shipment that meets the criteria. Download the EU VAT Shipping Systems Guide to find out how.

An EORI number (Economic Operator’s Registration and Identification number) is a unique identifier assigned to businesses that import and export between EU and non-EU countries to keep track of the movement of goods.

Without an EORI number, your goods may be held at customs until you supply your paperwork in its entirety.

As long as your business is registered for VAT in your own country, you can register for an EORI number via your country’s customs website (listed here). 

You will need to enter this number on the commercial invoice included with your shipment.

Every country has different shipping regulations. Our handy tool will keep you informed.
Look up country-specific shipping restrictions and service options.

There are also rules for special-care or prohibited items.

If you are shipping a large parcel, please be aware of size and weight restrictions.

If you are shipping agri-food consignments:
Agri-food consignments require health certificates and undergo sanitary and phytosanitary controls at border inspection posts. If you’re going to ship these items, contact us to get a special contract. We only accept these restricted commodities with UPS Express services.

It is your responsibility as the shipper to check the regulations and whether the products you are shipping will require inspection.

In order to ship goods across borders, you’ll need both a VAT and EORI number, as we’ve mentioned. However, if you are shipping to another business, you will also need to know your receiver’s VAT and EORI numbers.

When you are creating the shipping label, please make sure to include accurate contact information for your receiver in the commercial invoice as well, as UPS may have to contact them if we need to obtain a Power of Attorney form in order to manage the shipment through customs clearance.

VAT needs to be paid on most goods shipped from, to, and within the EU. The VAT rate is determined by your destination country. The €22 VAT de minimis exemption has been removed. You can read updates about VAT rules here, but this is what you need to know to ship now:  

• To determine how much VAT will need to be paid, you need to know the value of your parcel (cost of the goods + transport costs + duties owed).
• You can check the VAT rate for your destination country for the EU or the UK.

Keep in mind, you can always get an estimate of all landed costs by entering a few details about your shipment.

Either the shipper or the receiver will be responsible for payment of duties, taxes and fees. The receiver is responsible to pay, unless the shipper has opted for Delivery Duty Paid (DDP).

• Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) means the shipper will pay. 
• Delivery Duty Unpaid (DDU) means the receiver will need to pay.

If you do not have a UPS payment account, and are simply paying with a credit card, it will default to DDU, meaning the receiver will have to pay the duties, taxes and fees in order to receive their shipment.

By opening up a UPS payment account, you will have the choice, when you are creating the shipping label, of selecting either DDP or DDU.

If the recipient is to pay these charges, we recommend you inform them of this before the transaction, to avoid any surprises. Note, however, that if the receiver does not pay, then UPS may recover the outstanding amounts from you.

If you’d like more information about Incoterms, you can find it here.

If you are shipping within the EU (or domestically), you do not need to fill in any of the below forms.

If you are shipping from an EU country to a non-EU country, you will need to fill in a Commercial Invoice.

• Commercial Invoice – Required for all cross-border shipments. Our shipping tool will help you fill out your Commercial Invoice as you’re creating your shipping label. It is important to provide accurate and specific information in order to avoid customs delays. You will need to print out three copies of your Commercial Invoice to either hand to your driver or include in a secure packing pouch.

While you are creating your shipping label, you will also be able to print out a copy of the Certificate of Origin form.

• Certificate of Origin – To benefit from the preferential tariffs for your cross-border shipment, the products you are shipping must fulfil all the necessary rules of origin requirements.

Harmonised System Codes (or tariff codes) are used by customs authorities to identify products being shipped, so they can accurately assess any duties and taxes owed. An incorrect code can lead to customs delays or even fines.

While you don’t need to know your tariff code in order to ship, it is important that you provide an accurate, detailed description of the goods you are shipping (example: ‘men’s knitted jumper’ is better than ‘jumper’, ‘clothing’ or ‘gift’). This will allow us to determine the appropriate code for your goods.

However, to ensure accuracy, you can also look up your code before you create your shipping label.