Procedures
Carriage by the Deutsche Post AG
Delivery of the consignment by the delivery agent
Postal consignments can be directly delivered to the addressee by Deutsche Post AG parcel delivery agent, if
- no duties arise, and the consignment does not include any goods that are subject to prohibitions or restrictions,
there are duties, but
- the consignments do not contain any goods that are subject to prohibitions or restrictions or that require special formalities, and
- the electronic data for that consignment transmitted by the respective postal service provider in the third country is correct and complete.
In these cases Deutsche Post AG lodges the customs declaration as representative of the declarant and/or addressee. The information used in that import declaration comes from electronic data sent by the respective postal service provider in the third country to Deutsche Post and is based on the (electronic) customs declaration (CN22/CN23).
Whether, and to which extent, duties apply depends on the value of the consignment. As a rule, the duties are received by the delivery agent. Generally, Deutsche Post AG charges a service fee for submitting the customs declaration and advancing the duties.
Postal consignments with goods that
- are subject to prohibitions or restrictions,
- are subject to excise duties,
- require special formalities because of commercial policy measures or provisions of foreign trade law,
cannot be directly delivered to the addressee. This also applies if the required electronically transmitted data sent by the respective postal service provider in the third country is incorrect or incomplete. The postal consignments will be sent on to the customs office that is competent for the area in which you live, and you will be given written notification of this by Deutsche Post.
Collecting the consignment from a customs office
If postal consignments cannot be delivered directly to the addressee, they are always redirected to a customs office.
This is the case when there is no electronically transmitted information on the consignment’s contents and/or the information appears to be incomplete or incorrect. The information "gift" in the customs declaration CN 22 or CN 23 of a consignment is frequently not credible when the consignment’s packaging gives reason to suppose a commercial sender.
Consignments are also often redirected to a customs office when they contain goods that are subject to prohibitions or restrictions, or that require special formalities because of commercial policy measures or foreign trade legislation.
The missing information for consignments that have to be collected from a customs office must be provided by the addressee himself, for example by showing an invoice.
Addressees are notified by Deutsche Post AG if a consignment addressed to them has been redirected to a customs office.
The notification includes information on the missing documents. Frequently details of the value of the consignment are missing. It is imperative that you bring the invoice and other appropriate documents such as the PayPal proof of payment with you.Special rules apply if the consignment has been redirected to the customs office because it contains goods that are subject to prohibitions or restrictions. An electronic customs declaration (ATLAS) or an electronically transmitted customs declaration (internet import declaration, German: Internet- Zollanmeldung- Einfuhr - IZA) is always required for commercial consignments (e.g. internet order) with a value of more than 150 euros. This also applies if there are special requirements (e.g. prohibitions and restrictions).
online import declaration (in German)
translation aid for the online import declaration (June 2023 version)PDF | 690 KB | Not a barrier-free file
guidance SAD (Single Administrative Document)PDF | 893 KB | Not a barrier-free file
In addition, for commercial applicants, the customs declaration type IPK (internet application for postal and courier items with a value of up to 150 euros) is mandatory from 1 April 2024. The IPK is available via the Customs Portal.
Customs Portal: Service "Cross-Border trade in goods" [Registration required] (in German)
Please contact the customs office named in the notification promptly.
Postal consignments are kept at customs offices for fourteen days, and are then returned to their senders.
There is a charge for keeping postal consignments at the customs office. Storage costs are, however, only payable from the tenth day of charged storage, when they amount to 5 euros or more.
You should also contact the customs office promptly, or you should return the notification with the handwritten note "Annahme verweigert" (delivery refused) to the German Post Office’s (Deutsche Post AG) customs administration office named in the notification if you intend to refuse delivery.
Must I always go to the customs office and complete the clearance myself?
No, if you do not wish to carry out the customs declaration yourself, you can be represented by the German Post (Deutsche Post AG). To do this you should send the notification and the missing documents to the customs office, which will then hand the consignment over to the German Post (Deutsche Post AG) for clearance. You should allow the appropriate time for processing. If you delay in notifying the customs office, storage costs for the consignment may become due.
Customs clearance of mail from home (Postabfertigung von zu Hause)
Mail (parcel and letters) with a value of up to EUR 1,000 which is forwarded to the customs office can undergo custom clearance without your personal presence at the customs office.
If you receive the notification from the Deutsche Post AG that your mail is at the customs office, please contact the customs office promptly. This does not apply where you wish to collect your mail in person from the customs office.
After contacting your customs office, you will receive a declaration form.
You can also download the form here:
Declaration for consignments with an intrinsic value of less than or equal to EUR 150 or gifts
Declaration for commercial consignments with an intrinsic value of more than EUR 150
.
You may send the declaration form and the printouts of the requested documents to the customs office. The storage period for letters is 7 days and for parcels 9 days from the date of delivery of the mail by Deutsche Post AG to the customs office. Please note that this storage period may already have commenced before you have received a notification from Deutsche Post AG.
After receiving your documents, the customs office will process the custom clearance formalities in respect of your mail.
After processing and payment of import duties, if any, your mail can be sent to you. This requires a prior dispatch of a postal value stamp for the carrier of your choice (Deutsche Post AG or any other postal and courier service provider which collects your mail during opening hours from the customs office). The value stamp that you send to your customs office in advance is necessary because the carrier requires a new transport order (local postage with liability cover for parcels) for the delivery of your mail to your home.
Carriage of postal consignments by a courier service
Courier services carry out customs processing on behalf of declarants and/or addressees. You can inform yourself of the procedure and the amount of any charges that are made for provision of the service from the general conditions of trade of the relevant courier service provider. In the majority of cases consignments are delivered to addressees by the courier service’s delivery agents, provided they do not contain any goods that are the subjects of bans or restrictions, and do not require special formalities. Any duties that are payable and courier service company’s charges are usually collected by the delivery agent. Whether there is any duty payable, and the amount of such duty, depends on the value of the consignment. Consignments are not sent on to the customs office that is competent for the area where you live.
It is important that consignments do not contain any goods that are the subject of bans or restrictions or that require special formalities in terms of commercial policy measures or foreign trade legislation (authorisation requirements, for example).
You are strongly advised not to order, for example, medicinal products, counterfeit branded goods, or goods that are the subject of species protection.
In order to avoid any difficulties, request the seller and/or the sender of your consignment to attach outside a credible customs declaration and an invoice.
