International shipping considerations

Certain countries and regions have specific requirements about international shipping. Review the following countries to determine what you might need to change so that you can ship to these areas. This page isn't an exhaustive list of places with specific rules about international shipping. Always research the shipping laws for the countries and regions where you want to ship to before accepting orders from customers in those regions.

Note

HS codes are required for international orders. In addition, the description of the products in the order must be detailed, precise, and use plain language.

To reduce the risk of delays, fines, or returns, shipping labels can't be printed for international orders unless they have HS codes. This applies to both DDP and DDU labels.

Considerations when shipping internationally

If you sell your products internationally, then you might be affected by changing regulations due to shipping carrier limitations and border closures. Make sure your shipping settings are up to date, with the services that are available.

You might need to make changes to your shipping settings to make sure the shipping options that you offer to customers are actually possible. If you need to make changes to your shipping settings, then you should communicate that changes have been made to your customers. You can check carrier statuses on the Shopify Help Center.

Check your shipping limitations

Borders and shipping limitations can change, and can affect your ability to fulfill your customer’s orders. For each country that you ship to, check the border status and local shipping carrier information to make sure you can still ship to your customers.

If you can't ship to a country, then you need to update and edit your shipping zones to reflect where you can ship orders.

If you rely on a third party to fulfill some of your orders, then you need to check whether they can fulfill orders as well. You might need to update and change the products that you offer on your store depending on your third party’s ability to fulfill orders.

Update your customers on changes to shipping

If your ability to fulfill any orders changes because of border closures or shipping carrier limitations, then you need to let your customers know that changes have happened.

You can email your customers to let them know that there might be delays in their order arriving. Communicating with your customers helps show that you’re monitoring the situation and care about their order being delivered. Letting customers know that their order might be affected by situations outside of your control also helps you manage customer expectations.

Shipping to Brazil

For merchants who sell to customers in Brazil, there is a field labeled Additional information on the payment page in the checkout process. This field appears only on the payment page in the checkout process on the online store. It does not appear on Shopify POS or on the mobile app.

Customers who receive shipments from both outside and inside of Brazil enter their Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas (CPF) or Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica (CNPJ) number into this field. After a customer places an order, you can find their CPF/CNPJ number on their order details page. If your customer is a foreign national without a CPF or CNPJ number, then they can enter their passport number in this field.

Note

If you sell to customers in Brazil and you have modified your checkout to collect CPF/CNPJ numbers, then remove your customizations. If you keep your customizations, then your customer must enter their CPF/CNPJ number twice. If you have previously deactivated this field and need to reactivate it, then contact Shopify Support.

If you're in Brazil, then you must use the CPF/CNPJ number when issuing the government invoice for the customer. If you are outside of Brazil, then you must add the customer's CPF/CNPJ number to the shipping label. Packages without a CPF/CNPJ number on the shipping label might be destroyed or returned. CPF/CNPJ numbers are automatically added to shipping labels that are purchased through Shopify Shipping. If you purchase shipping labels through a third-party shipping carrier, then contact your carrier to determine how to add the CPF/CNPJ number.

If a supplier purchases labels on your behalf, then make sure that they add the CPF/CNPJ number to the shipping labels.

Caution

You can't edit the CPF/CNPJ number on an order. If your customer entered incorrect information, then cancel that order and have the customer place their order again.

Shipping to South Korea

For merchants who sell to customers in South Korea and ship their products from outside of South Korea, there is a field labeled Additional information on the payment page in the checkout process. This field appears only on the payment page in the checkout process on the online store. It does not appear on Shopify POS or on the mobile app.

Customers who receive shipments from outside of South Korea enter their Personal Customs Clearance Code (PCCC) into this field. After a customer places an order, you can find their PCCC number on their order details page. If your customer is a foreign national without a PCCC number, then they can enter their passport number in this field.

Note

If you sell to customers in South Korea and have modified your checkout to collect a PCCC, then remove your customizations. If you keep your customizations, then your customer must enter their PCCC number twice. If you have previously deactivated this field and need to reactivate it, then contact Shopify Support.

If you are outside of South Korea, then you must add the customer's PCCC number to the shipping label. Packages without a PCCC number on the shipping label might be destroyed or returned. PCCC numbers are automatically added to shipping labels that are purchased through Shopify Shipping. If you purchase shipping labels through a third-party shipping carrier, then contact your carrier to determine how to add the PCCC number.

If a supplier purchases labels on your behalf, then make sure that they add the PCCC number to the shipping labels.

Caution

You can't edit the PCCC number on an order. If your customer entered incorrect information, then cancel that order and have the customer place their order again.

Shipping to Italy

For merchants in Italy who sell to customers in Italy, there are two fields labeled Additional information on the payment page in the checkout process. These fields appear only on the payment page in the checkout process on the online store. They do not appear on Shopify POS or on the mobile app.

Customers in Italy enter their Codice Fiscale (CF) and their Posta Elettronica Certificata (PEC) into these fields. After a customer places an order, you can find their CF number and PEC on their order details page.

Note

If you sell to customers in Italy and have modified your checkout to collect a CF number and a PEC, then remove your customizations. If you keep your customizations, then your customer must enter their CF/PEC twice. If you have previously deactivated this field and need to reactivate it, then contact Shopify Support.

The Additional information fields are not mandatory because not every transaction requires an invoice. If you are located in Italy and your customer enters information in these fields, then you must issue an invoice to your customer for tax regulations and control. If the fields have been filled out at the checkout, then a banner appears on the order details page.

Caution

You can't edit the CF/PEC on an order. If your customer entered incorrect information, then cancel that order and have the customer place their order again.

Shipping to China

For merchants who sell to customers in China, there is a field labeled Additional information on the payment page in the checkout process. This field appears only on the payment page in the checkout process on the online store. It does not appear on Shopify POS or on the mobile app.

Customers who receive shipments from outside of China enter their People's Republic of China Resident Identity Card (resident ID) into this field. If your customer is a foreign national without a resident ID number, then they can enter their passport number in this field. After a customer places an order, you can find their resident ID or passport number on their order details page.

Note

If you sell to customers in China and have modified your checkout to collect resident ID numbers, then remove your customizations. If you keep your customizations, then your customer must enter their resident ID number twice. If you have previously deactivated this field and need to reactivate it, then contact Shopify Support.

If you are outside of China, then you must add the customer's resident ID to the shipping label. Packages without a resident ID on the shipping label might be destroyed or returned. Resident ID numbers are automatically added to shipping labels that are purchased through Shopify Shipping. If you purchase shipping labels through a third-party shipping carrier, then contact your carrier to determine how to add the resident ID number.

If a supplier purchases labels on your behalf, then make sure that they add the resident ID number to the shipping labels.

Caution

You can't edit the resident ID number on an order. If your customer entered incorrect information, then cancel that order and have the customer place their order again.