Print Customs Forms

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.

USPS Customs Declarations

USPS prints customs declarations directly on the label. No additional customs forms are required with these shipments.

ShipStation electronically submits customs forms for certain carriers, including FedEx, DHL Express, and UPS. FedEx and DHL Express occur automatically. For electronic submission with UPS shipments, you must first contact UPS to enable the EDI feature on your account. Review the Electronically Submitted Customs Forms section below for more details.

View & Print Customs Forms

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

Print From the Customs Forms Column

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.

Shipped Grid has a Customs Forms column with 'Created PDF' boxed in red for an order.

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.

Print Customs Forms from Orders or Shipments Tab

Alternatively, you can use the Print menu in the Orders tab Sidebar to print the customs form for a single selected order in the grid:

Orders tab shipping sidebar. A box highlights the Print menu with its dropdown options.

Printing Customs Forms for Selected Orders

When printing from selected orders, ShipStation will print all customs forms present for all shipments associated with that order.

Some orders contain multiple shipments. ShipStation will only print the customs forms for the specific shipments you select within an order. ShipStation will not print customs forms for unselected shipments, even if multiple shipments exist on the associated order.

Print Customs Forms from Order or Shipment Details

Printing Customs Forms from Details

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.

Print Customs Forms from Shipment Widget Action Menu

Add Label Messages to Forms

You can use 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

USPS

CN22: None

C72: None

Electronically Submitted Customs Forms

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.

Paperless Commercial Invoices for UPS from ShipStation International Shipping

For international shipments for UPS from ShipStation, the electronic customs forms are enabled by default. You do not need to contact UPS to enable it. If you do elect to print out physical copies, you can find them in the Forms column on the Shipments tab.

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.

EDI, ETD, and PLT Submissions

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 the 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 for UPS Paperless Invoicing online, log in to your UPS account and go to Actions > View Account Details. Click Paperless Invoicing and select Enroll My Account.

UPS

The UPS labels for shipments that had their forms submitted electronically will have EDI printed on them underneath the tracking barcode.

UPS label sample with "EDI" designation highlighted by red box in lower right corner.

If you see INV instead of EDI in this location, that means the customs form was not submitted electronically to UPS.

UPS sample label with "INV" designation highlighted by red box.

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

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:

FedEx Ground Label highlighting "ETD" designation for Electronic Trade Document submission.

For other FedEx International services, the letters ETD will be printed underneath the service name near the bottom of the label:

FedEx International Label highlighting "ETD" designation for Electronic Trade Document.

DHL Express

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.

DHL Express Label highlighting "C-PLT" designation for Customs Paperless Trade submission

In addition to the DHL Express Label, they will also print an archive document. Within the archive document is a Features/Services section that will display the phrase Paperless Trade if forms were submitted.

DHL Express label highlighting Paperless Trade designation under the Features/Services section

If the label does not display C-PLT and the archive document does not display 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.

Print Customs Forms Legacy Layout

If you are using ShipStation's Legacy Layout, follow these instructions to print customs forms.

View & Print Customs Forms Legacy Layout

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

Print Customs Forms From Shipments Tab

The Forms column in the Shipments grid will contain a form icon Form icon, resembles paper sheet with folded corner. if a customs form or commercial invoice is available to view and print.

Shipment grid with Forms column highlighted.

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.

Print Customs Forms From Order Details

The Order Details will also show the form icon Form icon, resembles paper sheet with folded corner. in the Shipments section.

Closeup of Shipments panel. Red arrow points to Customs Form icon.

To view or print, do one of the following:

  1. Click the form icon Form icon, resembles paper sheet with folded corner.and select a print method from the printing pop-up.

  2. Click the Docs drop-down menu and choose Other Forms. Then choose a print method from the printing pop-up.

    Shipments panel closeup. Red arrow points to Docs dropdown menu.

Batch Print

If you process your orders in batches, you can also print all forms contained within a batch from the Shipment tab.

ShipStation will then print all customs forms or commercial invoices contained within the batch.