Shipping abroad: customs, duties and documents

Selling to another country means customs. A parcel with the wrong paperwork is delayed, charged or sent back, and the customer blames the shop. Check these points before you list a product for another country.

Before you list

• Is the product allowed in the destination country? Products of animal origin (meat, dairy, fish, eggs, honey) cannot be sent to the UK or the EU from outside them. Alcohol cannot be sold on thekoshershop.com.
• Labelling: food must be labelled in the language and format of the destination country.
• Product safety: for non-food products sold in the EU you need a responsible person established in the EU, named on the listing and on the product.

The paperwork

• Customs declaration: postal parcels use CN22 or CN23 forms; couriers use a commercial invoice. Describe each item clearly (“ceramic kiddush cup”, not “gift”), with its value, quantity, weight, country of origin and tariff (HS) code.
• Country of origin: state it truthfully as the law of the destination country requires.
• Never mark a sale as a gift and never under-declare the value. It is illegal and the parcel can be seized.

Duties and taxes

• We ask sellers to ship delivered duty paid: the customer must not pay anything at the door.
• For some sales, the law makes The Kosher Shop responsible for VAT, and we collect it at checkout. You will see this in the order.
• United States: duty-free treatment of low-value parcels is suspended, so duty may apply to any parcel.
• European Union: low-value parcels no longer enter free of customs duty.
• Food to the United States: every food shipment needs prior notice to the FDA, and the facility that makes or packs it may need FDA registration.

Customs rules change often. We update this page every week with the changes we find. Check the date at the top of each update.