Customs forms are important documents that are used to apply clearance requirements for goods when it arrives at the customs of another country. USPS offers various services and the provided custom form formats and guidelines are one of the most significant services for customs clearance as this related documentation is viewed as a major hassle by most senders. Let us know more detail about ‘USPS Customs Form’.
USPS Customs Form
USPS is the only U.S. Postal service that delivers to any part of the nation. The postal service operates solely on its sales through the post of goods and services. It operates from over 34000 retail locations and handles approximately 48% of the world’s postage services. The service guarantees secure and effective communication between the government and U.S. People.
As USPS facilitates mailing and shipping to any part of the nation, a custom form is essential for clearance of the shipped or mailed goods at the custom of the recipient’s country. A Customs Form is required for international shipping services including US territory or military (APO/FPO) shipments. The form is to collect the information regarding the contents of the shipment. The information is required for approval from custom agencies that handle in and out of goods from each country. The failure to submit the appropriately completed forms at the customs would delay the package, may cause customs to charge wanted taxes or duties, and in the worst-case scenario may subject to heavy fines for non-compliance.
The USPS official website facilitates its customers to print just the custom forms or print labels and pay for postage Ina edition to printing the custom forms. The latter option is available by the use Click-N-Ship® service. Only the custom forms can be developed and printed using the USPS customs forms tool. Customers are also able to the labels and submit the PS Form 2976-R form at the local post office.
Completing a Customs form
The custom form majorly depends on the cost of the shipment, the services utilized by the customer, and the nature of the purchased item (s).
Create a custom form at USPS.com® – Customs Forms.
The following information will be required during the process:
- The total weight of the package for accurate pricing.
- The cost of each time in the whole package is US dollars to calculate the total value of the package.
- Sender’s and recipient’s full name and address.
- It is optional but encouraged to provide package dimensions; length, breadth, and height to receive low costing and faster shipment options.
- Customers of USPS services are also capable of viewing their custom form history, setting & save preferences, auto-populating information, and reviewing or reprinting old custom forms by creating an account at USPS.
Complete customs documentation:
Things to remember,
- Use official forms issued by the USPS through the online website or from the local post office
- Use proper trademark or incoterms consistently Throughout the shipping/customs documents
- Accurate description of the sender. Include VAT number in addition to basic details such as sender’s name, address, and contact number, if the shipment includes commercial goods.
- Accurate description of the recipient with basic information.
- Completed GXG International Air Waybill,
- Completed commercial invoice PS Form 6182
- The forms can be found using the Click-N-Ship or USPS Customs Forms tool.
- A detailed description of the package,
- Type of good.
- Total number of items.
- Individual quantity from each item.
- Shipment weight.
- Appropriate commodity name.
- Country of origin for each item.
- Value of each item.
- Subtotal of each item type.
- The total value of the shipment.
- Reason for export
- Type of invoice; proforma or commercial invoice.
- A full declaration including the sender’s name, sender’s signature, and date.
- Attach custom forms in a declaration envelope to the package
Forms needed for USPS overseas mail:
- commercial invoice with supplies and their destinations.
- sender’s declaration
- USPS customs declaration and dispatch note.
- Priority Mail Express International shipping label and customs form
All forms can be found at ClickNship.
Requirements for customs form certification
- A USPS business mailer account by following the USPS Business Customer Gateway.
- Complete the PS Form 5113 Barcode Certification Customer Application.
- Mail or email the completed and signed the above form to the national customer support center.
- Submit the Export Compliance Customs Data Requirements by providing the electronic customs data. This can be done either by,
- contacting the National Customers service to send the Product Tracking System (PTS) Shipping Services file
Or
- Emailing USPSElectronicFileRequest@usps.gov to Send the Extensible Markup Language (XML) formatted files.
- complete the following steps, once a notification is received from the National Customers service that the above files are certified.
- Create the custom forms using the guidelines given or privately printed declaration forms.
- Complete the PS Form 5114 Barcode Certification Customer Application
- Submit the 5114 PS form with 10 copies for the customs forms to the National customer support center.
The approval of all above submissions is followed by the customer receiving a barcode range.
Conclusion
USPS helps its customers create the custom forms by providing tools and resources concerning the entire procedure from completing to submitting the custom forms at custom clearance. This is a beneficial feature offered by USPS as it reduces the sender’s stress created due to various documentation.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the form name codes required for overseas mailing using USPS?
- PS Form 6182
- PS Form 2976
- PS Form 2976-A
- PS Form 2976-B
- PS Form 2976-R
- Do I need custom forms for all shipments?
No, custom forms are not required for shipments that weigh below 15.994 oz via First-Class Mail International.
- How many items can I include in my USPS customs forms?
It includes 5 items per page in the required 4-inch x 6-inch label format. But any number of line items can be included in the forms.
- How long do custom clearances take?
It takes a few minutes to hours for custom clearances. But it will get delayed if there are issues such as incomplete and or incorrect documentation or unpaid duty and taxes. There is a possibility that this will get delayed up to weeks.
