You need export documents for every shipment to a destination outside the EU VAT area, for example to Switzerland or the USA. For Pickware to create them together with the shipping label, three places need to be maintained: the shipping method, the products, and the general settings for shipping labels. If required details are missing there, for example the country of origin on the product or the Incoterm, the label cannot be created.
When do I need export documents?
You need export documents for all destinations outside the EU VAT area. This also includes territories that belong to an EU country but not to the EU VAT area, for example the Canary Islands and Réunion.
For shipments to Heligoland, on the other hand, you do not need export documents.
Step 1: Set up the shipping method for export
You activate the export documents in the shipping method. To do so, open the shipping method in Pickware Admin under Settings → Shop → Shipping and go to the Carrier section to find the export documents.
Select an international product of the carrier, for example DHL Paket International. Labels to other countries fail with "DHL Paket".
Activate Create export documents.
Select an Incoterm. For DHL Paket International, Pickware offers the four Incoterms that DHL specifies. DHL no longer accepts EXW. Use DDP or DAP instead.
For international DHL shipments, define the Pre-instruction, that is, what should happen to undeliverable parcels.
You can find more details on the shipping method settings in How do I configure the shipping methods so that the correct carrier products are selected automatically?
Shipments to the USA with PDDP
For shipments to the USA, you use the PDDP (Postal Delivered Duty Paid) service with DHL. Set up the shipping method as follows:
The product must be a DHL international product.
Select the Incoterm DDP.
Also activate Assumption of import duties.
Attention: Pickware only applies PDDP if the Assumption of import duties switch also stays active when the label is created. If you turn it off when creating an individual label, or if you select a different shipping method in the WMS App, PDDP does not apply to that label.
Step 2: Maintain customs information on the product
For the export documents, each product needs its own customs information. You usually maintain the tariff number and country of origin in Shopify, and the product import takes them over from there. In Pickware Admin, you can find the customs information in the product properties.
Tariff number (HS code) – 4 to 11 characters
Country of origin
Description – no more than 50 characters. Without a description, Pickware uses the product name, which is often too long.
If an item in the order has a value of 0, for example a free item, customs still needs a value. To provide one, enter a Fallback customs value on the product under Customs information, for example the purchase price. Pickware automatically uses it when the item in the order has a value of 0.
You maintain the customs information for many products at once in Pickware Admin using bulk edit: Under Products, select all affected products, open the Bulk edit, and switch to Customs information.
Where to find the individual fields in Shopify and in Pickware is explained in Where can I maintain which product information?
Step 3: Enter general customs details
Some customs details apply to all shipments. You enter them in Pickware Admin under Settings → Extensions → Shipping labels common in the customs information section.
Office of origin – name or address of the post office you ship from, with no more than 35 characters. If the entry is longer, the error
officeOfOriginappears. DHL Express requires this field, otherwise the errorplaceOfIncotermappears.Customs identification numbers of the sender – here you enter your customs identification numbers, for example EORI number, VAT ID, or IOSS number, each with type and issuing country.
All fields on this settings page are explained in What general settings are there for shipping labels?
Export documents for DHL Express, FedEx, and UPS
With DHL Express, Pickware transmits the customs data electronically (Paperless Trade) if Express Worldwide with the shipment type Goods shipment is selected in the shipping method. For Express Worldwide, you also need the tariff number (HS code) and country of origin on the product.
FedEx uses the export and customs data of your orders, among other things, to create a commercial invoice.
You do not need to maintain the customs description on the product for UPS; without it, Pickware passes on the item name.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the WMS App not print the export document?
Export documents and customs documents such as the customs declaration (CN23) do not have their own document type in the WMS App. The app usually prints them via the printer you have set for the paper format Default DIN A4. If no printer is set there, the app only displays the document instead of printing it.
Therefore, in the WMS App under Settings → Printers, use Select paper format to set an A4 document printer for Default DIN A4. You can read how to do this in detail in How can I set up a printer in the WMS App?.