Setting up Products for Electronic Pre-Advice and Customs (legacy)

This guide shows you where to add the customs details couriers need for international orders in the legacy StoreFeeder view. Using the current view? See Setting up Products for Electronic Pre-Advice and Customs.

Why couriers need these details

To help with customs processing, Royal Mail and many other couriers use electronic pre-advice, or something similar. For international orders, they need each product's harmonised code (HS code) and country of manufacture sent to them in advance.

You can add these details to each product, as described below, or update many products at once with an import.

Step 1: Open the product

Go to Products > Manage Products and click the product you want to update.

Step 2: Open the Shipping & Handling tab

In the left-hand menu, click Shipping & Handling.

Step 3: Enter the customs details

Scroll to the Customs Details section and fill in:

• Product Type Description
• Detailed Product Type Description
• Product Composition
• Product Harmonised Code: the product's HS code
• Country Of Manufacture: the product's origin country
• Customs Declaration Category: what kind of shipment the item is on its customs declaration

For the Customs Declaration Category, choose the option that describes the shipment, for example E-Commerce Sale Of Goods. If a product shows Sale Of Goods (CN22/CN23 only), which is no longer used, choose one of the other options instead.

Not sure which HS code to use? The section has a link to the UK Trade Tariff, where you can browse the codes and work out the right one for your product.

Step 4: Save the product

Click Save at the top right of the page.

Where to find package size and quantity

The same Shipping & Handling tab holds the product's shipping information. Set the Package size and Packaging Quantity in the Size & Shipping Details section.

Updating many products at once

You don't have to edit each product. To update the harmonised code and country of manufacture in bulk:

1. Go to Products > Product Import Export.
2. Export the two fields for your products.
3. Fill them in, then import the file using Import (Update Existing).

Troubleshooting

The courier rejects an international order because of the HS code
Check the Product Harmonised Code on every product on the order. For DPD, see Error: "HS code is invalid" (legacy).

FedEx says the commodity description is incomplete
The Product Type Description needs to say specifically what the item is, and match the harmonised code. See Error: "Incomplete commodity description" (legacy).