Instructions for how to print customs forms and which carriers submit customs electronically.
If your postage provider sends customs forms or commercial invoices to your ShipStation account for your international orders, you can then print them through ShipStation to include with the shipment.
ShipStation automatically submits customs forms for DHL Express automatically. ShipStation can submit customs electronically for UPS shipments, but this must be enabled on your UPS account first. Review the Electronically Submitted Customs Forms section below for more details.
There are a number of ways to preview and print customs forms or commercial invoices for shipments that have them.
The Customs Forms column in the Shipping Tab
The Print menu in either the Orders or Shipping tabs
The Print menu in either the Order or Shipment Details screens
The action menu from the Shipment Widget
Customs forms or commercial invoices are sent back to your ShipStation account from the carrier along with the international label.
The Customs Forms column in the Shipments grid will tell you if customs information is printed directly on the label (as is the case for USPS shipments) or the customs is on a separate PDF.
If the customs information is on the label, no further action is necessary as there are no additional forms to print. If the text in the Customs Forms column reads Created PDF, then you can print the form.
Go to either the Orders or Shipments tabs.
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Select the order(s) or shipment(s) you wish to print customs forms for.
You can choose to print individual orders and shipments or select multiple orders and shipments.
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Click the Print menu and choose Customs Form.
ShipStation will open the Print pop-up screen.
Select your printer and click Print, or choose to download the PDF to print later.
Alternately, you can use the Print menu in the Orders tab Sidebar to print the customs form for a single selected order in the grid:
Note
When printing from selected orders, ShipStation will print all customs forms present for all shipments associated with that order.
When printing from selected shipments, ShipStation will print the customs forms present only for the selected shipments, even if multiple shipments exist on the associated order.
Note
When printing from the Order Details, ShipStation will print all customs forms for all shipments associated with the order.
When printing from the Shipment Details, ShipStation will print only the forms associated with that shipment, regardless of whether other shipments are associated with the order.
You can use ShipStation's Label Messages to add text to some international labels, customs forms, or commercial invoices, if the selected carrier and service supports it.
Carrier |
Label Messages Supported |
|---|---|
DHL Express |
Commercial Invoice: Label Message 1, 2, 3 |
Fedex |
Commercial Invoice: Label Message 1, 2, 3 |
UPS |
Commercial Invoice: Label Message 1, 2, 3 |
Australia Post |
CN22: None CN23: Label Message 1, 2, 3 |
ShipStation automatically submits your customs forms electronically for FedEx and DHL Express. ShipStation can also do this for UPS international shipments, but EDI must be enabled on your UPS account first.
Electronic form submission occurs when you create the label for any shipments that:
Require a customs form
Are sent by UPS, FedEx, or DHL Express
Each carrier requires a different electronic submission protocol.
The ETD and PLT features are enabled by default for FedEx and DHL Express users shipping through ShipStation. No additional setup is required. Certain restrictions may apply based on destination, so be sure to check with your carrier account representative for details.
UPS users must apply to UPS directly before EDI is enabled for a UPS account. Once enabled on the UPS side, ShipStation will submit customs forms electronically for your international UPS shipments. To apply online, go to the UPS Paperless Invoice Enrollment page and click on the option to enroll in the paperless invoice.
The UPS labels for shipments that had their forms submitted electronically will have EDI printed on them underneath the tracking barcode.
If you see INV instead of EDI in this location, that means the customs form was not submitted electronically to UPS.
For shipments that did not have their customs forms electronically submitted, you must print the forms through ShipStation and include them with the shipment. Contact UPS to enable EDI on your UPS account so forms will be submitted electronically in the future.
FedEx shipments with electronically submitted customs forms will have ETD printed on the labels.
For FedEx International Ground, the letters ETD will appear in a black box under the shipping service icon:
For other FedEx International services, the letters ETD will be printed underneath the service name near the bottom of the label:
DHL Express submits customs forms electronically by default for all accounts when shipping to countries that support Paperless Trade.
DHL Express will print C-PLT on the label if forms were submitted.
Additionally, the archive document that prints with the DHL Express label will print Paperless Trade in the Features / Services section.
If the label does not display PLT and the archive document does not list Paperless Trade below the Features / Services section, you will need to print your customs forms. Check with your DHL Express account manager to find out if the forms need to be attached to the box or handed to the driver.
If you are using ShipStation's Legacy Layout, follow these instructions to print customs forms.
In ShipStation Legacy, you can access your customs forms in three places:
The Forms column in the Shipments tab
The Shipments section of the Order Details screen
The Print menu in the Active Batch screen
The Forms column in the Shipments grid will contain a form icon 
if a customs form or commercial invoice is available to view and print.
If you do not see the Forms column, go to the Columns drop-down and select Forms. ShipStation will add the Forms column on the right side of the grid. Scroll to view, and drag and drop the column to change its location in the grid.
The Order Details will also show the form icon in the Shipments section.
To view or print, do one of the following:
Click the form icon
and select a print method from the printing pop-up.-
Click the Docs drop-down menu and choose Other Forms. Then choose a print method from the printing pop-up.
If you process your orders in batches, you can also print all forms contained within a batch from the Shipment tab.
Click Batches in the left-hand sidebar.
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Click Active to view your active batches and select the batch you want to print.
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Click the Print menu and choose Other Forms.
The number of customs forms or commercial invoices in the batch will appear in parentheses.
Select your print method from the print pop-up screen.
ShipStation will then print all customs forms or commercial invoices contained within the batch.