Commodities / Customs Declarations Section
Whenever sending internationally, you will be prompted with this section and required to complete it. If you are not providing your own commercial invoice, the information you enter here will be used to create a commercial invoice for this shipment.
Section Requirements:
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Declaration: This is a dropdown box to let you select what type of item you’re sending, e.g., sample, merchandise, gift, etc.
- Description: Describe what items you are sending. Please be as detailed as possible if your items are not universally known about.
- Manf Country: Here you select which country the item was made in e.g., China, New Zealand, etc.
- Total KG: The total weight of your item measured in kilograms
- Units: How many items are in the package
- Total Value: The retail value of the items in the declared value currency (this is in NZD by default)
- Harmonised Code: See Harmonised Code section below
- Receiver pays duties & taxes: This tick box will determine who pays any applicable duties on the shipment.
- Add Additional Cover: This tick box determines whether you would like additional insurance cover on the items you are sending (in case the standard cover is not enough). Different services provide different levels of cover. Click here to learn more about additional cover across couriers and services.
Sending High Value Items
For high value shipments, there are extra steps you must take regardless of the carrier you're sending through. High value goods refer to items greater than or equal to $1000 NZD.
NZ Customs require a commercial invoice to be supplied with the package(s) you're sending. You must also be registered with NZ Customs and your customs client code/exporter code must stay visible when it goes through customs. You can register with NZ Customs here. The best way to display your NZ Customs client code would be to include it on your commercial invoice. GSS does not have a field for your client code on your automatically generated invoice. We recommend creating your own invoice for this purpose.
Note: the value of items is determined on whether or not the items are going to the same receiver on the same flight. For example, if you are sending three separate consignments to the same receiver at the same time, NZ Customs will take the combined value of all shipments (even if the consignment numbers are different).
Depending on the country you're sending to, there may be further duty & tax charges on high value goods. On GSS you may select for the receiver of the goods to pay these but ultimately, responsibility for the payment remains with you. If the receiver fails to pay the charges they will be charged back to your account.
Harmonised Code (HS Tariff Number / TARIC Number)
It is recommended (though not always required) to provide a 6-digit HS Tariff Number (Harmonised Code) for commercial items. For a few locations, such as Ireland, it is mandatory to include a 6-digit HS Tariff number or a 10-digit TARIC number for all items. HS Tariff codes are applicable in numerous locations and they can be confusing.
To find an HS Tariff number specific to NZ, visit https://www.tariff-finder.govt.nz/
TARIC numbers are used specifically for sending to destinations in Europe. To find a TARIC number, visit https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp
You can add these numbers when you are creating your labels via GSS.