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Consolidated Clearance

Consolidated Clearance Service is a software solution shipping feature that enables goods and shipments to be cleared through customs or regulatory procedures. The shipments can be for multiple recipients in the same country and require individual Shipping Labels to be created. These shipments are then consolidated to be cleared as one shipment through customs, as a single Customs Entry.

This involves obtaining the necessary clearances to facilitate the movement of goods freely across borders or within different regions. The individual shipments are then de-consolidated and delivered to the individual recipients.

The feature is designed to:

  • Simplify the consolidation process by removing the need for retailers to create any master/parent shipments.

  • Create and manage the consolidation identifiers according to the carrier requirements to reduce the paperwork needed.

  • Simplify Customs processes as shippers only need to clear the combined shipment through customs once, rather than separately for each individual item.

To work effectively, Consolidated Clearance has some prerequisites:

  • Commercial terms must be agreed upon in advance with the supported carriers.

  • You must provide the mandatory fields specified for each carrier to successfully ship on their services. These mandatory fields must be passed in the Metapack API, including, but not limited to, Shipping Location, Shipping destination, Product Level Information, Consolidation service, Importer of Records, Point of Entry, and Billing Method. There are no minimum volume requirements; however, it is likely that low-volume shippers would not find utilizing this consolidation method efficient if they are shipping only a limited number of packages daily.

  • Shipments must comply with the Carrier's documented specifications.

  • The end delivery address/recipient must be known before creating a Shipping Label.

  • You must ensure the details declared are accurate and ship the exact number of parcels listed in your commercial invoice. Otherwise, your consolidated shipment could be delayed or subject to additional customs charges.

  • The shipper must have an IOR (Importer of Record) in the destination country.