USPS Implements New Rules on Sending Packages to European Union

The U.S. Postal Service issued a reminder about sending packages to the European Union. New EU rules require shippers to provide more detail about the contents of their packages on customs forms.

USPS wrote, "Customers should be reminded that broad descriptions of the contents are not acceptable. For example, 'men's cotton dress shirts' is acceptable; 'shirts' is not. 'Children's toy doll' would be acceptable; 'gift' or 'toy' would not."

The rule applies to packages being 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. It also applies to Norway and Switzerland.

USPS wrote about the new rules in November, which went into effect this month. As they noted, noncompliance could result in fines and penalties as well as delivery delays.