Sending a parcel outside the EU? CN22/CN23 customs declarations without the mistakes

A parcel to Canada, Norway or Australia looks much the same at the counter as a parcel to the next town. The difference is one piece of paper stuck to the outside, and that piece of paper decides whether your item arrives in a fortnight or comes back a month later with a bill for the return leg.

CN 22 and CN 23 are not complicated forms. The trouble is that people fill them in from intuition rather than from the rules, and intuition gets several things wrong. If you want to see which form applies to your item and what goes in each box, our interactive CN22/CN23 tool walks you through it. This article covers the other half: the mistakes that get items held.

CN 22 or CN 23? Value is only part of it

The usual rule of thumb is that cheap items get the small sticker and expensive ones get the full form. That is half right. Postal operators across Europe apply the Universal Postal Union rules, which turn on more than one criterion at a time:

• CN 22 — letter-class items (small packets) holding a single type of goods, up to a customs value of 300 SDR.
• CN 23 — once the value exceeds 300 SDR, when you send several different types of goods, or when the item is a parcel.

The “or” matters. Send two unrelated things in one small packet and you are on CN 23 even if the whole lot is worth €30. A low value does not get you out of it.

SDR (Special Drawing Rights) is an accounting unit used by the International Monetary Fund, not a currency you will ever handle. Three hundred SDR works out at roughly €350, but the rate moves and national postal operators publish their own conversion for the year. If your item sits anywhere near the threshold, check the current figure with your postal operator before you rely on it.

With a parcel the question is already settled

This is the detail most guides skip, and it applies to the majority of senders. The choice between CN 22 and CN 23 only really arises for letter-class items: letters, small packets, insured letters.

Send an actual parcel and there is nothing to choose. A CN 23 declaration goes with it, typically as part of the despatch note the operator has you complete anyway, whether the contents are a €20 gift or €400 of stock. The same applies to express postal services such as EMS.

The practical consequence: assume you will be completing the longer form. CN 23 asks for more than the sticker does, and filling it in from memory while queuing at the counter is the surest route to a typo.

Customs value is not what you paid for the item

Most people copy the price from the receipt into the value box. Customs value means the price paid or payable for the goods on export, which is the price of the goods plus transport plus any further costs such as insurance.

On a €15 item the difference is cosmetic. On something more expensive, where postage runs to €25 and you add cover, you end up somewhere other than the receipt suggests. Because customs in the destination country calculates duty and tax from the customs value, a figure that does not add up is the first thing to attract attention.

The other half of the same problem is the gift. There is a widespread belief that something given away has no value, so the box gets a zero or a dash. Value must be declared for a gift as well. Estimate what the contents are actually worth and write that in. A zero is not a saving on duty, it is an incomplete declaration.

Deliberate under-declaring is a worse bet still. Where the declared amount does not match the contents, customs can hold the item and ask for evidence of what it cost. The few euros saved are not worth it, particularly for higher-value items, where the declared value also governs what you can claim if the item goes missing.

”Clothes” is the description that stops your item

The single most common mistake, and the easiest to fix. The contents box wants the quantity and a detailed description of each individual item, not a summary category. A correct entry reads like “2x paper book” or “2x men’s shirt”. A general description such as “Clothes” is not acceptable.

The same goes for “gift”, “samples”, “electronics” or “personal items” as the only text in the box. None of them tell an officer what to classify or which rate to apply, so the item is set aside and a request for more detail goes out. That turns a two-week delivery into a month. Our guide on how to describe parcel contents has worked examples by product type.

The description sits alongside the weight of each item and the total weight, and the currency and value of each item separately, not just a total at the bottom. For commercial goods you must also give the HS tariff number and the country of origin. You can look the code up in the TARIC database by product name; our HS code guide sets out the steps.

Watch the country of origin. It is where the goods were made, not where you are posting from. A shirt manufactured in Vietnam and sent from Berlin has Vietnam as its origin.

Do not complete it in your own language

It sounds obvious, but it is a persistent error. The declaration is completed in Latin script, in English or in a language accepted in the destination country.

Writing “2 Stück Herrenhemd” or “2 ks pánská košile” is not enough, however precise the description is in itself. An officer in Sydney or Toronto cannot assess it and your care is wasted. English is the safe choice almost everywhere; where a destination has its own official-language requirement, the postal operator’s international conditions will say so.

One more box that gets forgotten: the date and the sender’s signature. Without them the declaration is unconfirmed. By signing you also certify that the item contains nothing dangerous or prohibited, so it is worth checking the list of prohibited items first.

The paper form is no longer enough on its own

This change happens away from the counter, which is why many senders have never noticed it. Since 1 January 2021, UPU rules require address and customs data for items going outside the EU customs territory to be transmitted electronically, as an EDI ITMATT message, in addition to the paper CN 22, CN 23 and despatch-note forms.

The data has to reach the destination before the item does. Without that advance transmission, import of the item will not be permitted. Some destinations, the United States among them, reject items with no generated data message automatically.

The practical upshot is straightforward. The data message is generated from what you write on the form, so an incomplete declaration no longer just prompts a query at the far end; it can stop the item before it leaves. It pays to complete the optional boxes too, above all the recipient’s phone number and email — when the destination country needs something clarified, it goes to the recipient directly rather than back through you and another fortnight.

What happens when the declaration is wrong

There are broadly three outcomes, and they differ mainly in what they cost you.

What is wrong	What happens
Generic description of contents (“Clothes”, “Gift”)	Item waits at customs while an officer requests more detail from the recipient
Contents data missing altogether	The destination country may return the item and charge the sender for the return carriage
Value that does not add up, or is under-declared	Item held pending evidence of the real price; penalties where it was deliberate
No electronic advance data	Import will not be permitted, and some countries reject the item automatically

The second row deserves emphasis, because it is the expensive one. Return charges for items sent back from abroad are collected from the sender. You pay for the outbound leg, the return leg, and a month later the goods are back on your table.

A checklist before you post

Before you tape the box shut, run through this:

• I know whether I am sending one type of goods or several, which decides the form.
• If it is a parcel, I am expecting CN 23.
• The value covers goods and transport, and is filled in even for a gift.
• Every item has its own line with quantity, description, weight and value.
• The description is specific and in English, never “Clothes”.
• For commercial goods I have the HS number and the country of origin.
• The recipient’s address is complete, phone number and email included (see how to address a parcel).
• The form is signed and dated.

To have the fields prepared and checked for you, use the CN22/CN23 tool. For how duty and VAT are then calculated on the other side of the border, see our guide to customs and VAT in international shipping; for Britain after Brexit there is a separate guide. And if you are unsure which carrier or service fits, the Advisor will narrow it down.

Quick facts

Sending a parcel outside the EU? CN22/CN23 customs declarations without the mistakes

schedule Updated 02/09/2026

Summary

CN 22 and CN 23 are the Universal Postal Union customs declaration forms attached to postal items sent outside the customs territory of the EU. CN 22 covers low-value items up to 300 SDR, while CN 23 is required once the declared value exceeds 300 SDR, when several different types of goods are sent, or when the item is a parcel rather than a letter-class item. SDR is an IMF accounting unit rather than a currency, and 300 SDR works out at roughly €350, though the rate moves. Customs value means the price paid or payable for the goods plus transport and any further costs such as insurance, and it must be declared even for a gift. Declarations are completed in Latin script in English or a language accepted in the destination country, and a generic description such as "Clothes" is not acceptable — each item needs its own quantity, description, weight and value. Since 1 January 2021, UPU rules also require address and customs data to be transmitted electronically (EDI ITMATT) ahead of the item itself; without that advance data, the destination country will not allow the item in.

When CN 22 is enough

Letter-class items up to 300 SDR with a single type of goods

When CN 23 is required

Value above 300 SDR, several types of goods, or any parcel

300 SDR in euros

Roughly €350, though the SDR rate moves — check before you post

What customs value covers

Price of the goods plus transport plus costs such as insurance

Language of the form

Latin script, English or a language accepted in the destination country

Required for commercial goods

HS tariff number and country of origin of the goods

Electronic advance data

Mandatory since 1 January 2021 (EDI ITMATT), sent before the item