📋 International Customs Forms Guide
Everything you need to know about CN22, CN23, and commercial invoices for international shipping
Why customs forms matter
Customs decides what a parcel is and what it owes from your declaration. Missing or inaccurate paperwork can mean:
- A customs hold while officers ask for more detail
- Return to sender at your expense
- Seizure or destruction of the goods
- Fines where a false declaration is involved
U.S. senders: USPS no longer accepts hand-completed customs forms. Every form must be electronically generated online or by a clerk at the counter.
Which Customs Form Do I Need?
Start with the carrier, not the form. Post uses CN22/CN23-type declarations; couriers use a commercial invoice.
CN22
USPS PS Form 2976
- Postal items up to 300 SDR (roughly $400)
- U.S.: First-Class Package International Service, up to 4 lb
- Elsewhere: often up to about 2 kg
CN23
USPS PS Form 2976-A / 2976-B
- Postal items over 300 SDR
- U.S.: all Priority Mail International (2976-A)
- U.S.: all Priority Mail Express International (2976-B)
Commercial Invoice
FedEx, UPS, DHL Express
- Courier shipments of goods
- Sales, samples, gifts, repairs and returns
- Often also useful with a postal CN23
How to Create the Form
Sending from the U.S. by USPS
- Click-N-Ship: label and form together
- Customs Forms Online: a form, then pay at the Post Office
- Shipping software or a marketplace label
- PS Form 2976-R: a paper worksheet you take to the counter, where the clerk prints the real form
Sending from elsewhere, or by courier
- Your national post's online tool, or its branch form. Many still take a completed paper CN22 or CN23.
- Courier booking sites generate an invoice from what you enter, and may accept paperless upload.
What a CN22 Asks For
-
Category:
- Gift (genuine personal gift, no payment)
- Documents (papers with no commercial value)
- Commercial sample
- Merchandise / Sale of goods
- Returned goods
- Other (specify in the description)
-
Detailed description of contents:
- Be specific: "Men's cotton t-shirt" not "clothing"
- Include material: "Sterling silver necklace" not "jewelry"
- Mention the brand if relevant
- List each item type separately
- Quantity: Number of each item type
- Net weight: Contents without packaging
- Value: Actual value of the goods, not the shipping cost
- HS code: At least six digits on USPS shipments of goods, unless the country listing says otherwise
- Country of origin: Where the item was made, not where it shipped from
- Date and signature: Sign as your tool or clerk directs. On paper, sign in ink.
What a CN23 Asks For
Everything on a CN22, plus fuller detail:
Sender
- Full name (no nicknames) and complete address
- Phone number with country code and email
Recipient
- Full name and complete delivery address
- Phone number (many destinations want one)
- Tax ID or VAT number where the destination requires it
Content lines
| Description | HS Code | Origin | Qty | Net wt | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's leather handbag | 4202.21 | Italy | 1 | 0.9 kg | $150 |
| Stainless steel wristwatch | 9102.11 | Switzerland | 1 | 0.2 kg | $200 |
Totals
- Total weight and total value
- Postage paid (separate from the value)
- Insured value, if any
- Signature and date
Commercial Invoice Requirements
The commercial invoice is the form express carriers use in place of a CN22 or CN23, and the first thing customs officers read. Our guide on how to read a customs invoice, field by field decodes every line, including Incoterms and HS codes.
Required Information
- Invoice number and date
- Seller details: Name, address, tax ID
- Buyer details: Name, address, tax ID
- Ship to: If different from buyer
- Terms of sale: DAP, DDP, FOB, etc.
- Currency
- Country of origin: For each item
- HS codes
- Detailed description: Each line item
- Unit price and total value
- Signature: Authorized person
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Vague descriptions such as "Stuff" or "Goods"
- Undervaluing to reduce duty
- No recipient phone number
- Wrong or missing HS codes
- Grouping different items on one line
- Using the ship-from country as the origin
- Using an old hand-filled USPS form
Special Situations
Gifts
- Person to person, unsolicited, with no payment
- Many countries have a low gift limit
- Purchases are not gifts, even if marked so
Documents Only
- Papers with no commercial value
- Courier: mark "Documents" and describe them
- USPS letters under 16 oz need no customs form
- Usually duty-free
Samples
- Mark "Commercial sample"
- State "Not for resale"
- Declare a real value; relief is not automatic
- Marked or defaced samples get better treatment in some countries
Returns/Repairs
- Mark "Returned goods"
- Include the original invoice or RMA
- State the reason for return
- May avoid duty, depending on the destination
Personal Effects
- Used items being relocated, not for sale
- Say how long you have owned them
- An inventory list may be needed
Warranty Replacement
- Mark "Warranty replacement, no charge"
- Still declare a market value
- Include warranty paperwork
- Reference the original purchase
Sending Into the U.S.
Foreign senders face stricter data rules since the $800 exemption ended: many posts now want 10-digit HS codes, origin and prepaid duty before accepting goods. See shipping to the USA from abroad.
Best Practices Checklist
- Use the form your carrier and service call for
- Write in English, or as your post advises (USPS requires Roman letters and Arabic numerals)
- Be specific in descriptions
- Include phone numbers
- Declare actual values
- Keep a copy for your records
- Put paperwork in a pouch on the outside of the parcel
- Include a commercial invoice for courier and B2B shipments
- Check the destination's country guide and prohibited items
Related guides
Need a deep dive on one form? See the CN22 form guide (with a filled example and "what value to put") and the CN23 form guide (who fills it out, returns and RMA shipments).
Once the form is accepted, customs works out what's owed: see duties, taxes, and total landed cost. Parcels can also be reweighed: see dimensional weight. For high-value contents, read shipping insurance: an accurate declared value matters for any claim.