{"id":14692,"date":"2022-12-05T08:30:58","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/?p=14692"},"modified":"2024-06-18T08:28:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T15:28:36","slug":"common-international-shipping-documentation-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Common International Shipping Documentation Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

International shipping is complex. It\u2019s especially difficult to juggle the difference requirements of each country. Each country has a unique set of information needed when importing products, and merchants are expected to adhere perfectly.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many merchants get a bit mixed up on some of the import documentation entries. Here are some of the most common international shipping documentation issues and how to fix them to ensure your shipments won\u2019t get stopped at customs.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Country of Origin<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many merchants get confused by this. What should be listed is the country where your products are being shipped from, not the country of provenance or where it was manufactured.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Industry insight: Companies should investigate any duty or tax advantages based on regulations. For example, a brand manufacturing products in Europe, fulfilling in the US and shipping to Canada will be paying extra when they could get duty free shipping if they ship direct from Europe into Canada, because of a free trade agreement between Europe and Canada.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

HS Codes<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These are classifications that need to be specified. For example, the commodity description should be of the materials used in your products, not the product name. For example, the marketing name for a green t-shirt might be \u201cSea Turtle\u201d but if that\u2019s listed instead of cotton apparel, your products will likely get stopped often causing supply chain headaches for you.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Incoterms<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Specific codes added to your import\/export documentation, <\/span>Incoterms define the transaction of goods<\/span><\/a> between the entity exporting and the entity importing. They set out the various parts of trade that assign responsibility for cost, logistics, and any operational processes needed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Export Control Classification Number (ECCN)\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to classifying your products with the proper HS code, you also need to determine if your products require an export license. Many merchants don\u2019t realize these are different, and very important classifications. Some examples of products that require an ECCN include chemicals, electronics and computers. <\/span>The Commerce Control List (CCL)<\/span><\/a> gives the full list of products subjected to licensing rules.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Value\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are so many different costs associated with any given product: retail value, wholesale value, actual cost. The value line on a commercial invoice should be the price the buyer in the United States paid for the goods, not the amount the goods will be sold for in the United States. There are occasions where a buyer will ask to change this value, based on duties and taxes incurred from certain value amounts. It\u2019s prudent not to change this, unless you want to expect customs delays.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dangerous Goods\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also known as hazardous material or hazmat, dangerous goods are a classification of material that requires special handling and labeling. Each country has its own policies on hazardous materials. These goods can vary widely, but usually include lithium batteries, battery powered devices, aerosols, oxygen cylinders, and flammable materials. Make sure you have the correct <\/span>dangerous goods documentation<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freight Class\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because freight rates can be such a high percentage of your transportation bill, many ecommerce brands look for the cheapest ways to ship products. If a brand inaccurately chooses a low freight class because it costs less, they may end up paying for freight adjustment fees. Carriers can easily determine incorrect class designations and then assign a reclassification penalty.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bottom Line<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you work with a 3PL, freight forwarder, or international shipping partner, they can help ensure you have the right information listed and formatted. Keep in mind that at the end of the day the information you provide is your responsibility and you\u2019ll pay the penalty if it isn\u2019t correct.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s so important to work with reputable international shipping partners. Everything is more complex with international shipping.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you If you are looking for a 3PL partner with experience in <\/span>dangerous goods<\/span><\/a> regulation and compliance, we would love to hear from you. You can read <\/span>DCL\u2019s list of services<\/span><\/a> to learn more about what we do, or check out <\/span>the many companies we work with<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Send us a note<\/span><\/a> to connect about how we can help your company grow.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International shipping is complex. It\u2019s especially difficult to juggle the difference requirements of each country. Each country has a unique set of information needed when importing products, and merchants are expected to adhere perfectly.\u00a0\u00a0 Many merchants get a bit mixed up on some of the import documentation entries. Here are some of the most common […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[2054],"class_list":["post-14692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shipping","tag-international"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCommon International Shipping Documentation Issues | DCL Logistics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Don't let basic international shipping issues trip you up. Limit delays & customs issues with these expert ways to resolve international shipping issues.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common International Shipping Documentation Issues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don't let basic international shipping issues trip you up. Limit delays & customs issues with these expert ways to resolve international shipping issues.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DCL Logistics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DCLLogistics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-05T16:30:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-18T15:28:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maureen Walsh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dcl_logistics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dcl_logistics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maureen Walsh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Common International Shipping Documentation Issues | DCL Logistics","description":"Don't let basic international shipping issues trip you up. Limit delays & customs issues with these expert ways to resolve international shipping issues.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Common International Shipping Documentation Issues","og_description":"Don't let basic international shipping issues trip you up. Limit delays & customs issues with these expert ways to resolve international shipping issues.","og_url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/","og_site_name":"DCL Logistics","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DCLLogistics\/","article_published_time":"2022-12-05T16:30:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-18T15:28:36+00:00","author":"Maureen Walsh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dcl_logistics","twitter_site":"@dcl_logistics","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Maureen Walsh","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/"},"author":{"name":"Maureen Walsh","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#\/schema\/person\/bc81d881eb8b181d8c951e6ac0087a06"},"headline":"Common International Shipping Documentation Issues","datePublished":"2022-12-05T16:30:58+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-18T15:28:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/"},"wordCount":687,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#organization"},"keywords":["International"],"articleSection":["Shipping"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/","url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/","name":"Common International Shipping Documentation Issues | DCL Logistics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-12-05T16:30:58+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-18T15:28:36+00:00","description":"Don't let basic international shipping issues trip you up. Limit delays & customs issues with these expert ways to resolve international shipping issues.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/shipping\/common-international-shipping-documentation-issues\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Common International Shipping Documentation Issues"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#website","url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/","name":"DCL Logistics","description":"Logistics and Fulfillment Experts","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#organization","name":"DCL Logistics","url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/DCL-Icon-Transparent.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/DCL-Icon-Transparent.png","width":153,"height":153,"caption":"DCL Logistics"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DCLLogistics\/","https:\/\/x.com\/dcl_logistics","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dcl\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#\/schema\/person\/bc81d881eb8b181d8c951e6ac0087a06","name":"Maureen Walsh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/92a8327f195b45b2998fbb72af53feaf6cd55207b691df23673cd0c3fc9dbb10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/92a8327f195b45b2998fbb72af53feaf6cd55207b691df23673cd0c3fc9dbb10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Maureen Walsh"},"description":"Maureen is the Marketing Manager at DCL Logistics. A writer and blogging specialist for over 15 years, she helps create quality resources for DCL's innovative customers and many other ecommerce brands looking to optimize their business.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/maureenwalsh\/"],"url":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/blog\/author\/maureen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14692\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaeljbrumm.com\/dcl-v3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}