Customs Data and Dangerous Goods Checks on Shipments
When you ship with UPS to a country outside the EU, QrX sends the customs data of every order line to UPS for the commercial invoice: the HS code, the country of origin, a description and the value. And every time QrX buys a shipping label, it first checks your dangerous goods rules, so a parcel with goods that its carrier does not take never gets a label by accident. On your own UPS contract with a UPS dangerous goods agreement, QrX also declares the dangerous goods to UPS.
Who It Is For
Merchants who ship with UPS outside the EU, for example to the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway or the United States.
Merchants and warehouses that sell items with a dangerous goods class, such as lithium batteries, aerosols or flammable goods.
Customs Data for UPS Shipments Outside the EU
For a UPS label to a country outside the EU, QrX adds one line per order line to the commercial invoice. Shipments within the EU are not changed.
HS code: the HS code of the order line (for example sent by your shop or through the API). When the line has none, the HS code of the linked stock item. When the item has none either, your default HS code (see below). When there is still no code, the line is sent without one and the order shows a warning. A missing HS code never blocks the label.
Country of origin: from the order line, then the Country of origin of the stock item, then the country of your sender address.
Description: the Customs description of the stock item, otherwise the product name, otherwise the SKU. Long descriptions are split over up to 3 lines of 35 characters.
Value: the order line value as stored on the order, in the currency of the order. Discounts are spread over the lines. The shipping cost is declared separately as freight.
Free items, such as a free gift or a fully discounted line, are declared too, at the cost price of the item or at the smallest amount of the currency (for example 0.01). The order shows a warning that names them.
UPS takes up to 50 lines per invoice. An order with more lines gets 49 lines and one last line "Other goods" with the rest.
When combined orders in one parcel have different currencies, QrX sends one general invoice line instead of a line per item, and the order shows a warning. Check the invoice before the parcel leaves.
The shipment description on the label is a short description of the goods instead of the payment text.
No Incoterm is sent.
Set the customs data of your items in Warehouse > Stock: open the item, card Shipping data, fields HS code (6 to 12 digits, dots and spaces are fine), Country of origin and Customs description. These fields never change the price of an order.
Default HS Code
Most shops sell one kind of goods. Set a default HS code once on the Customs card of Settings > Operations > Shipping Providers (6 to 10 digits, dots and spaces are fine). QrX uses it on UPS shipments outside the EU for every line that has no HS code of its own. Leave it empty if your goods differ too much. Every merchant can set it, also without warehouse stock. You need the permission Manage Shipping to change it.
The Printed Commercial Invoice
For lanes that need a commercial invoice, the invoice is printed together with the label when the UPS provider setting Print carrier documents with labels (Settings > Operations > Shipping Providers) is on. If you never changed that setting and a packing slip or document printer is set, it is on for these lanes by default. QrX does not send the invoice electronically (no paperless invoice), so the parcel needs the printed invoice.
Customs Warnings on the Order
When a line went to UPS without an HS code, the shipment card of the order in Transactions shows: "Customs: these lines were sent to UPS without an HS code." with the order lines it concerns. Add the HS code to the order line or the stock item, or set a default HS code. The warning disappears when a later label of the order has every code. A similar warning names free items that were declared at a nominal value, or says that a parcel with combined orders in different currencies got one general invoice line.
Dangerous Goods Checks on Every Label
Your dangerous goods rules (Settings > Warehouse > Dangerous goods rules) say which dangerous goods class may ship with which carrier or shipping method. Your own classes from the Classes tab can be used in rules too. QrX checks these rules every time it buys a label, not only at the pack station:
Creating an order with a label (in PortalX or through the API): when the order has dangerous goods that its carrier or shipping method does not allow, the order is created but its label is not bought. PortalX says: "The order was created, but its label was not bought: the order has dangerous goods that its carrier or shipping method does not allow." Through the API the answer has the error code dangerous_goods_not_allowed.
Labels bought later and printing from the Print Queue: the label fails with the same reason. The shipment history of the order shows "The label was not bought: this order has dangerous goods that its carrier or shipping method does not allow." These labels are judged on the items of the order that are booked into stock. An order without stock items is not checked here, just like at the pack station.
At the pack station: the order is blocked when you complete it, as before. Someone with the permission Pack without scanning can click Override and write a note. That override counts for the same carrier and shipping method, so the label can then also be bought from the other paths.
To fix a blocked order, change its shipping method to one that takes these goods, or override the block at the pack station. A rule for one shipping method goes before the rule for the whole carrier. An order without a shipping method is judged with the default method of its carrier, otherwise with the rules for the whole carrier. Labels for In-house delivery are not checked. The rules that count are those of whoever holds the stock: yours for your own stock, the fulfilment partner's for stock in a partner warehouse.
Dangerous Goods and QrX's UPS Contract
QrX's UPS contract (QrX UPS Payment On Delivery) cannot ship dangerous goods. An order with an item that has a dangerous goods class never gets a label on that contract, for every merchant, also without a dangerous goods rule of your own and also with an override at the pack station. PortalX and the shipment history say: "This order has dangerous goods. QrX's UPS contract cannot ship them: choose another shipping method." Change the shipping method of the order, for example to your own UPS contract with the UPS dangerous goods agreement or to another carrier, then create the label again. When QrX cannot check the order for dangerous goods at that moment, the label is not bought and is tried again automatically. Dropship items are not checked here.
Your Own UPS Contract: UPS Dangerous Goods Agreement
When your own UPS contract has a dangerous goods agreement with UPS, QrX can declare dangerous goods (for example lithium batteries) to UPS on the label.
Open Settings > Operations > Shipping Providers, open your own UPS account and switch on UPS dangerous goods agreement. Switch it on only when UPS has confirmed the agreement for your account.
Complete the dangerous goods data of each item in Warehouse > Stock: open the item, tab Storage and dangerous goods. Besides the Dangerous-goods class, UN number (for example UN3481), Proper shipping name, Packing group and Net quantity per unit, fill in the UPS dangerous goods declaration: Regulated level (LR Lightly regulated, EQ Excepted quantity, LQ Limited quantity or FR Fully regulated), ADR class (empty uses the default of the dangerous goods class), Packaging type and Packing instruction (1 to 4 letters or digits, for example 966 for lithium-ion batteries packed with equipment).
Limits of the declaration:
Dangerous goods are declared on UPS Standard within the EU only (road transport, ADR). Other UPS services are refused: "UPS dangerous goods can only be declared on UPS Standard within the EU."
One dangerous goods item per parcel and one package per shipment: "This parcel holds more than one dangerous-goods item." Ship each dangerous goods item in its own parcel.
A label is refused before it reaches UPS while a value that UPS needs is missing: "The UPS dangerous goods declaration is incomplete for item ...". Complete the item, then create the label again.
With the switch off, orders with dangerous goods on your own UPS contract follow your dangerous goods rules as before, without a declaration to UPS. Orders without dangerous goods are not affected by the switch.
Warnings When Picking
The printed pick list has a dangerous goods column for the items and the orders, and a warning at the top when an order on it is blocked for its carrier.
When you create a pick list, QrX tells you how many orders hold dangerous goods that their carrier does not take. They are picked, but the pack station blocks them until the shipping method changes or someone overrides it.
Picking never stops because of dangerous goods.
Common Problems and Fixes
UPS or customs asks for an HS code: look for the customs warning on the order, add the HS code to the stock item or set a default HS code, then create the label again.
The commercial invoice did not print: check that a packing slip or document printer is set and that Print carrier documents with labels is on for your UPS provider.
A label was not bought although the order was created: open the shipment history of the order. When it names dangerous goods, change the shipping method or override at the pack station.
"This order has dangerous goods. QrX's UPS contract cannot ship them": choose another shipping method for the order. An override at the pack station does not help for this contract.
"The UPS dangerous goods declaration is incomplete for item ...": fill in the missing UPS values of that stock item (tab Storage and dangerous goods), then create the label again.
A free gift appears on the invoice with a small value: customs needs a value for every item, so QrX declares free items at cost or at the smallest amount.
When to Contact Our Support Team
Contact QrX support when a UPS shipment outside the EU is held by customs although every line had an HS code, when a label is refused for dangerous goods that your rules allow (on a contract other than QrX's UPS contract), when UPS refuses a declaration although the item data is complete, or when a printed invoice is missing lines. Include the order number, the tracking number and a screenshot of the warning.