When sending items overseas, it’s important that you abide by the shipping rules of the destination country.
All postage labels created through Jersey Post include the Electronic Advance Data (EAD) required to send goods – this provides customs data electronically ahead of items arriving at their destinations. This minimises delays and ensures the smooth and timely delivery of your items.
Always check the customs requirements for the postal authority in the country you are sending to ensure the relevant requirements are met.
Harmonised system (HS) codes are essential to speedy customs clearance of your goods.
Paying VAT
Any items you are sending that exceed a retail value of £39.00 will need to have VAT paid on them - we recommend customers prepay VAT at the time of sending to minimise transit times and ensure quick customs clearance. In addition, Royal Mail may add a handling fee for non-prepaid VAT items, which the recipient may be asked to pay on receipt of the item.
Sending returns
When returning an item, you must attach the relevant labels to your parcel sent to you by the retailer as well as complete and attach one of the below customs declaration forms:
This is because the labels provided to you by a retailer will not automatically include the customs information (EAD – Electronic advance data) required to send off island.
Customs authorities worldwide are enforcing stricter import regulations. This has resulted in increasing delays in the shipping of our international mail due to the information provided by customers on waybills and commercial invoices not meeting regulatory standards - either because it's inaccurate or incomplete.
To ensure smooth customs clearance across all international destinations, it is essential that all shipments—whether gifts, returns, or sold items—include the following:
Customs require ICS2 which involve additional security measures related to airmail from postal operators. These measures require electronic submission of data related to the sending of postal goods prior to despatch and are intended as a safety measure for all states involved.
As well as ICS2, the use of HS Codes is mandatory for shipping commercial goods to the EU from a non-EU country. This includes the UK as we are no longer part of the EU Customs Union.
HS Codes allow customs authorities worldwide to have a numerical method of classifying traded products using the 6-digit (minimum) HS code on the label, an 8-digit for Germany and a 10-digit for Ireland for commercial items.
No, but you need to apply for 'Outward Processing Relief' with JCIS (Jersey Customs and Immigration Service).
Outward processing relief is a GST relief which allows the temporary export of goods from Jersey for processing or repair and re-importation of the processed goods with total or partial relief from GST.
Private individuals wishing to import goods replaced under warranty or re-import goods which have been repaired off island do not need to apply for authorisation until the replacement goods are imported, or the repaired goods are re-imported.
Businesses wishing to take advantage of this relief should apply to JCIS. In most cases, an online CAESAR declaration is likely to be the most convenient way of making this declaration. Applications should be made before the goods are exported.
For more information on the terms and application process for Outward Processing Relief, please refer to the 'Relief from GST' page on the States of Jersey website.
If you're posting items that you're selling, all customs information is built into the labels our postage calculator generates. You'll also need to do the following:
For more information on what's required to sell items into the UK, visit www.gov.uk.
When returning an item, you must attach the relevant labels to your parcel sent to you by the retailer as well as complete and attach one of the below customs declaration forms:
This is because the labels provided to you by a retailer will not automatically include the customs information (EAD – Electronic advance data) required to send off island.
Gift definition - A gift is defined as an item:
When posting gifts you must include:
Customs declarations:
Paying VAT:
Sender and recipient information:
*Packages containing more than one gift are clearly intended for several people (for example, members of the same family) so must be:
