Customs Declarations, CPC Codes and EORI for EU Parcels

You do not need a customs declaration to send a parcel between two EU countries. Customs paperwork starts the moment one end of the route sits outside the EU. Spain to Germany goes without a declaration; the same box from Spain to the United Kingdom needs one. Our booking flow decides for you, and the customs step only appears when the route requires it. When it does appear, you list every item with its description, quantity, value, tariff code and country of origin, mark the shipment as a gift or a sale, and choose who pays the import taxes and duties. Businesses add an EORI number, a VAT number, and for sales into the EU an IOSS number.

Key takeaways

• EU to EU: no customs declaration, no tariff codes, no EORI.
• Any non-EU leg, in or out, including the UK: declaration required.
• The form needs item description, quantity, value, tariff code and country of origin for each item.
• DDP means you pay the import taxes; DDU (officially DAP since Incoterms 2010) means the recipient pays on arrival.
• Choosing DDU into an EU destination requires an IOSS number at checkout.

A customs declaration is a legal statement of what is inside a parcel, what it is worth, where it was made and why it is being sent, submitted to the customs authority of the country the parcel enters. Customs uses it to decide the duty and import VAT owed and whether the goods are allowed in at all.

You need one when a parcel crosses a customs border. Inside the EU customs union there is no border to cross, so a parcel from Portugal to Poland travels on the shipping label alone. The rule our system applies is straightforward: if either the origin or the destination is outside the EU, and the two countries differ, the customs step appears in your order. A domestic parcel inside a non-EU country, London to Manchester for example, needs no declaration either.

For most senders this never comes up. Around 99.8% of everything we carried between August 2025 and July 2026 moved between two EU countries and needed no declaration at all. The rest crossed a customs border, and roughly seven in ten of those had a UK leg.

The customs routes we actually carry reach 18 destination countries, with Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong behind the UK by volume. Check what is available for your own origin and destination in parcel and pallet services.

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A tariff code, also called an HS code or commodity code, is a numeric classification that identifies a type of goods in international trade. Customs authorities use it to set the duty rate and apply import restrictions, and every item on a declaration needs one.

The first six digits are the World Customs Organization's Harmonised System and are the same everywhere. Countries add digits after that for their own duty and statistical rules, which is why an EU code and a UK code for the same product can differ in length.

Look yours up in the source that matches your destination:

• Into the EU: the EU TARIC database.
• Into the UK: the UK Trade Tariff.

Our customs step has a tariff code field with a code lookup beside it, so you can search by product description rather than memorising numbers. If nothing matches exactly, pick the closest classification rather than leaving it blank.

A customs procedure code (CPC) is a code on a customs declaration that tells the authority what customs procedure the goods are entering, permanent import, temporary admission, re-export, inward processing and so on. It sits alongside the tariff code, which describes what the goods are, and answers a different question: what is being done with them.

For a normal commercial parcel or a gift the procedure is a straightforward permanent import or export, and the carrier's broker applies the standard code. You will not be asked to enter one on an Ecoparcel booking. CPCs matter when you are handling your own declarations, sending goods out for repair and back, or moving stock under a special procedure. The UK's codes live in the gov.uk collection "UK Trade Tariff: volume 3 for CDS", where the procedure and additional procedure code appendices sit, last updated 1 May 2025.

An EORI number (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) is a unique identifier that customs authorities use to track a business across every customs procedure it takes part in. Any economic operator established in the EU customs territory needs one to import or export.

Since Brexit there are two of them and they are not interchangeable:

• EU EORI: issued by an EU member state, used for customs procedures in the EU. It is the two-letter country code of the issuing state followed by an identifier unique in that country, for example DE123456789012.
• GB EORI: issued by HMRC, needed by the UK importer or exporter on UK customs procedures. Format starts with GB.

A business that trades in both directions typically holds both. You apply through your own national customs authority, and it is free.

Private individuals sending personal parcels are not normally asked for an EORI number. The European Commission's rule is that EORI numbers identify economic operators; people who are not economic operators need one only where the national legislation of the EU country concerned, or another EU legal act, requires it.

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) is an Incoterm under which the sender pays the import duty, import VAT and clearance charges, so the parcel arrives with nothing left to settle. Our checkout labels it "I'll pay taxes and duties (DDP)".

DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) is the arrangement where the recipient pays import duty and VAT before the parcel is released. It was retired from the official Incoterms in 2010 and replaced by DAP (Delivered At Place), which works the same way, but carriers and shipping platforms still use "DDU" as the everyday name. Our checkout shows "The recipient will pay all Import Taxes and Duties (DDU)".

Which one to pick depends on who the parcel is for:

• Selling to a consumer: choose DDP. A customer who gets a text demanding VAT plus a carrier handling fee before their order is released will remember it, and it is the most common source of complaints on cross-border orders.
• Sending to yourself, a business, or a gift to someone expecting it: DDU is fine, provided the recipient knows a charge is coming.

Destination carriers add their own handling fee on DDU shipments before releasing a parcel, on top of the duty and VAT. The amount varies by carrier and country, so check the destination carrier's published fee rather than assuming.

IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) is an EU electronic portal through which a seller collects, declares and pays import VAT on distance sales of goods worth up to EUR 150 shipped into the EU, so the buyer pays nothing extra on delivery. It has been available since 1 July 2021, the same date the EUR 22 import VAT exemption was removed and all goods imported into the EU became subject to VAT (European Commission, VAT One Stop Shop).

IOSS registration is not compulsory. If you send a handful of consignments a year, the cost of registering and filing may not be worth it, and you can ship DDP instead and settle the VAT yourself.

One thing to know before you reach checkout: if you choose DDU on a parcel going into the EU, our order flow requires an IOSS number. That is a deliberate rule, not a bug. Without an IOSS number the parcel arrives with VAT unpaid, the destination carrier bills your recipient, adds a handling fee, and delivery stalls until someone pays. If you do not have an IOSS number for an EU-bound sale, choose DDP.

The IOSS guide covers registration, intermediaries and filing in detail.

• Describe goods precisely. Skip "clothing", "personal belongings" and "gifts". Write what the item is, what it is made of and how many there are.
• Declare the real value. Customs checks market value, and an under-declared parcel is held, revalued and sometimes penalised. Under-declaring also voids your cover if the parcel is lost.
• Give working contact details for the recipient. If customs cannot reach them, the parcel goes back to you at your cost.
• Put a tariff code on every item. If no exact match exists, use the closest one rather than leaving the field empty.

Once the parcel is moving you can track your parcel and see when it clears each customs checkpoint.

Do I need a customs declaration to ship within the EU?
No. The EU is a customs union, so a parcel travelling between two member states crosses no customs border and needs no declaration, no tariff codes and no EORI number. You need a declaration as soon as either end of the route is outside the EU, the United Kingdom included.

What is a CPC (customs procedure code)?
A CPC tells customs which procedure the goods are entering: permanent import, temporary admission, re-export, inward processing and so on. The tariff code says what the goods are; the CPC says what is being done with them. Carriers apply the standard code on ordinary parcel shipments.

Do I need an EORI number as a private individual?
Not normally. EORI numbers identify businesses in customs procedures, and private senders shipping personal goods or gifts are not usually asked for one. If you sell goods commercially, even at small volume, apply through your national customs authority. Registration is free.

Who pays customs charges, the sender or the recipient?
Whoever the shipment's terms name. Under DDP the sender pays duty, import VAT and clearance. Under DDU, officially DAP, the recipient pays before the parcel is released, plus the destination carrier's handling fee. You choose at checkout, and DDP is the better choice when selling to consumers.

What happens if my customs declaration is wrong?
The parcel is held at the border while customs queries it, which typically adds days. Undervalued or vaguely described goods can be revalued, penalised, returned at your cost, or seized. Correcting a declaration mid-transit is slow, so check item descriptions, values and tariff codes before you book.

Check the route first. Two EU countries, and there is no customs step to worry about. Anything with a non-EU end, and you will need item descriptions, values, tariff codes and a decision on who pays the duty, so gather them before you start rather than halfway through checkout.

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