The USPS issued a reminder Wednesday that postal workers should be ready to provide tools to customers sending packages to the EU. New European Union rules require shippers to provide more detail about the contents of their packages on customs forms.
In a memo to employees, the USPS wrote: “Customers should be reminded that broad descriptions of content are not acceptable. For example, “men’s cotton dress shirts” is acceptable. not “shirts”. “Children’s toy doll” will be acceptable. There will be no “gift” or “toy”.
The rule applies to packages sent to all 27 countries of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia. , Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. This also applies to Norway and Switzerland.
We wrote about the new rules in November, which came into force this month. As we mentioned, non-compliance can result in fines and penalties, as well as delivery delays.
The USPS posted signs at post offices around the country explaining the change.
Ina Steiner
