Global customs clearance requirements: Electronic advance data (EAD)

For border security and customs clearance purposes, NZ Post is required to electronically capture all information provided on shipping labels and manual consignment notes for all international sending services (excluding International Economy Letters).

This information may be shared, if required, with the postal administrations and national government agencies of the destination and/or transit and transshipment countries for purposes such as fiscal, risk, security and border clearance, in line with national and international legislation.

This requirement is not limited to New Zealand and NZ Post. All postal operators and other delivery service providers around the world are required to capture and transmit this data to all countries before parcels can be sent.

Over the years, requirements for electronic advance data have evolved. To ensure delivery standards are maintained, it is important you provide complete and accurate data for customs clearance purposes.

Key information on this page:

• Components of EAD and notes on providing the correct EAD
• Benefits of electronically created shipping labels
• Requirements from the European Union and their impact
• Examples of correct and incorrect content descriptions
• HS tariff codes
• Destinations requiring HS Tariff codes
• Discontinuation of physical consignment notes
• Frequently asked questions

Components of EAD and notes on providing quality EAD

The electronic advance data requirements include the sender’s and receiver’s details, and information about parcel contents.  All information should be provided in English.

Benefits of electronically created shipping labels*

Customs documentation is part of the electronic shipping label creation process. This offers many benefits:

• Validation of delivery addresses
• Ensures all required information is entered
• Provides immediate visibility of available services for your item’s destination
• Provides shipping cost estimates at time of label creation

* The features may vary depending on which front-end shipping platform you use. These are features available in My NZ Post Business and eShip.

Our team have been working to introduce more features in the front-end and back-end of the electronic labelling systems to help customers better comply with the overseas customs clearance requirements.

Requirements from the European Union and their impact

From 2021, the European Commission has been rolling out a customs system designed to enhance the safety and security risk management for goods entering and transiting through the EU. It’s called Import Control System 2 (ICS2). See the below table of ICS2 participating countries and destinations we use ICS2 participating countries to transit.

For NZ Post, we’re required to declare the safety and security data to ICS2 system for risk assessment. Declarations may be rejected due to insufficient or poor quality data. Accurate and complete data for a declaration is key to being ICS2 compliant.

The European Commission has shared a non-exhaustive list of words which you should avoid using to describe your sending contents. See below for examples of acceptable and unacceptable content descriptions.

For more information about ICS2, visit the EU Taxation and Customs Union.

Examples of acceptable and unacceptable content descriptions

The following list of acceptable descriptions is merely a suggested guide. This list is not exhaustive and will continue to be revised.

HS tariff codes

What is an HS tariff code?

Harmonised System (HS) tariff codes are an internationally standardised set of codes used to help classify what kind of products are being shipped internationally. This system also plays a vital role in taxation systems and controls.

A TARIC code is an EU standardised customs identifier containing ten digits. It is integrated into the 6-digit harmonised system (HS) code and is designed to show various rules, such as duty suspensions and tariff quotas applying to specific products when imported into the EU.

What you need to know

For ICS2 participating countries and the destinations we use ICS2 participating countries to transit, HS 6-digit tariff codes are required for all items. Ireland, an ICS2 participant, requires providing 10-digit TARIC codes.

For other destinations, the HS 6-digit tariff codes are required for the items sent as part of the commercial transactions.

Please become familiar with classifying HS tariff codes process as the items may be returned if the requirement has not been met. If an item being sent fails to provide a Tariff Code, NZ Post will endeavour to supply one but accepts no liability for incorrect or inadequate declaration of goods or any consequences as a result.

How to classify goods

To find an HS tariff code, use the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade online Tariff Finder.

Then, use the HS 6-digit code for your item on the website of the European Commission Taxation and Customs Union to get the corresponding 10-digit TARIC code.

Note that you cannot find TARIC codes on the NZ Tariff Finder as TARIC codes are EU standard customs codes.

Destinations requiring HS tariff codes to be ICS2 compliant

* This destination list is subject to change due to the adjustment of airfreight routing schedules.

Useful tools for HS tariff code classification

We have the Lookup Tariff Codes API for customers to integrate to look up the codes. More information can be found in our Developer Centre.

If you use eShip to create shipping labels for your international parcels, you can bulk classify your products and save the HS tariff codes in the Product Catalogue. More information about the Product Catalogue can be found in this support article.

Please be aware that the HS tariff codes are updated from time to time when needed, it’s a good practice to check and ensure the codes you use are up to date.