1. Metapack
  2. Shipping
  3. Platform Setup
  4. Brexit

Product-Level Information

In order to define consignments for customs purposes, anyone shipping commercial goods into or out of the EU needs to supply information at both parcel and product level in Delivery Manager.

From 1 January 2021, you also need to supply the same level of information when moving goods between:

  • Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), or the Isle of Man, and the EU.

  • Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

You can then generate the required Customs Documentation.

Both parcel and product level information are needed whenever you apply for EORI Numbers,

Note

When creating and allocating consignments at parcel and product level, you are advised to use the Shipping API as opposed to the Delivery Manager user interface, to ensure maximum security and flexibility.

How to add Parcel/Product Details to a Consignment

To be able to add the requisite level of detail within a consignment, you need to set the mandatory consignmentLevelDetailsFlag to false (refer to the Properties needed to Call or Create a Consignment).

This will then allow you to set the parcelWeight (mandatory in Delivery Manager and post-Brexit) and parcel dimensions (refer to the Parcels Array).

Tip

Within the parcel information, you can also record the duty of the combined taxable sales value of the parcel, inclusive of VAT, for example if using the DDP Incoterm. To do this, use the dutyPaid field.

As a minimum, you need to set the following product-level details within each parcel, using the Products Array:

  • countryOfOrigin. This determines whether the country concerned is preferential or non-preferential for the purposes of WTO rules.

  • harmonisedProductCode. In this field, you need to enter the 'commodity code', which is a sequence of numbers made up of 6, 8 or 10 digits. It determines the following:

    • customs duties and other charges levied on the goods;

    • the preferential treatments that may apply to their import;

    • the restrictions and prohibitions that may apply to the import, export or transit of the goods.

    Six-digit commodity codes are Harmonised System (HS) codes. These are used worldwide in monitoring trade volumes and applying international trade measures to goods.

    The HS nomenclature forms the basis for the 8-digit Combined Nomenclature and the 10-digit Taric Nomenclature. These are used in both import/export and statistics declarations on internal trade between EU countries ('Intrastat' declarations).

    Click here for more information. You may also find this HMRC video of interest.

    Note

    You can find the commodity code for a product in the United Kingdom with this .gov.uk tariff classification tool.

    Important

    From 1st July 2021, HS Codes must be 10 digits when shipping from the United Kingdom into the European Union, regardless of the value of the goods. This is to match ROI customs requirements.

  • productCode. The SKU (Stock Keeping Unit).

  • productDescription. A specific description of the product.

  • productTypeDescription. A description of the product category. For example, if you are shipping trousers and shirts, you might enter "Clothes" so that this then appears on the transport label instead of the productDescription.

  • fabricContent. If you are shipping textiles, you additionally need to specify the exact materials from which they are made. This is because regulations, charges or other restrictions can apply to textiles both when they leave the United Kingdom and enter their destination country.

  • productQuantity. The number of product items.

  • totalProductValue. The overall value.

  • unitProductWeight. The unit weight.

Tip

If you wish to add consignment and product values in alternative currencies, refer to How do I ship in different currencies?