Streamline your exports: Automatic customs document completion with Shipmondo

When you ship parcels to countries outside the EU, correct customs management is essential to ensure your shipments arrive safely and on time. Customs authorities in the destination country require a range of information that forms the basis for customs clearance. This information must be accurate and complete to avoid delays, additional costs, or returns.

With automatic customs in Shipmondo, you can streamline the entire process and ensure that customs documents are completed efficiently every time.

If you run an e-commerce business with a webshop that ships to customers outside the EU, accurate and efficient customs handling is crucial. Through Shipmondo Order Management, we also offer easy and automatic completion of customs documents.

What is automatic customs?

Automatic customs is a feature in Shipmondo that allows you to automate the completion of customs documents when creating export shipments to countries outside the EU.

The feature ensures that the necessary customs information, such as tariff code (HS code), product description in English, country of origin, and product value, is automatically transferred from your product data to the relevant documents.

This means that commercial invoices, proforma invoices, and, if required, CN22 or CN23 documents are generated correctly and efficiently without manual entry, depending on the carrier’s requirements. Shipmondo also supports paperless trade with several carriers, so customs information is sent digitally to the relevant authorities.

By using automatic customs, you avoid repetitive and error-prone tasks while ensuring compliance with customs requirements and obtaining correct customs declarations in the destination country.

Automating customs handling is especially relevant for businesses with high order volumes or complex product catalogs, where accurate and consistent customs information is essential to ensure shipments clear customs quickly and without complications. For example, if an HS code is missing or the country of origin is incorrect.

Note! Do you ship to private individuals in Norway and are VOEC-registered? Then the shipment should bypass customs clearance at the border, and your VOEC number must be stated on the invoice and shipping label. In these cases, automatic customs should only be used if the system supports correct VOEC labeling.

Customs is also particularly important when it comes to bulk shipping, where many orders are processed and shipped together in larger batches to recipients abroad. Otherwise, you risk delays, holds, or additional duties and taxes for the entire shipment. In these cases, only the consolidated shipment is cleared, not the individual parcels.

With Shipmondo’s automatic customs feature, you can easily handle large volumes of shipments without compromising on accuracy and compliance with customs requirements.

How automatic customs works

Automatic customs is activated in two main steps:

1. Fill in customs information for your products

To get the full benefit of the feature, your products in Shipmondo should be set up with the following information:

• English product description
• Tariff code (HS code)
• Country of origin
• Weight and value per unit

This data is used directly in the customs documents, so it is important that it is accurate and follows applicable customs regulations. If your products are already in the system, the data can be easily updated via Excel import.

If you are using a platform like Shopify, customs data can be transferred automatically via metafields, minimizing the need for manual updates. Learn more about importing product data here.

2. Activate automatic customs on your integration

Once your products are updated, activate automatic customs in the relevant integration in Shipmondo. From then on, the relevant customs information will be used every time an export shipment is created based on an order from your shop or ERP system.

This ensures that customs documents are correctly completed and attached without manual effort.

Benefits of automatic customs

Expand into new markets

Automatic customs is the opposite of a growth barrier. It makes it easy to expand your business into new markets outside the EU, where customs compliance is essential. It eliminates tedious, repetitive manual tasks and lets you focus on growing your business while shipping worldwide.

Reduce the risk of errors

Customs information must be accurate. With automatic customs, you avoid manual input errors and ensure that tariff codes, descriptions, and values match your product data and the requirements of the destination country.

Save time in your workflow

Instead of spending time filling out customs documents for each individual order, the documents are generated automatically. This frees up resources in your operations and creates a more efficient logistics flow, especially with high volumes.

Ready for paperless trade

Shipmondo supports electronic transmission of customs documents, also known as paperless trade, with carriers such as DHL Express and UPS. This means customs information is sent digitally to both the carrier and the authorities in the destination country, reducing the need for physical invoices/documents and speeding up customs clearance.

Consistent setup across transport companies

The feature can be used with multiple transport companies and is flexible in its configuration. When you use Shipmondo, you can achieve a consistent customs process across shipments, creating a scalable and reliable setup.

In addition, the feature requires that your product catalog in Shipmondo is updated with correct customs data. If you use shipping templates, customs information will automatically be retrieved from the products, ensuring that documentation is based on a centralized and well-maintained data source.

See our list of features in Shipmondo and find the solution that best matches your needs.