An Post returning packages from outside the EU-See 1st post

I was reading it there last week it says on here

Which provider will deliver my parcel? 

DHL has a partnership with An Post. International shipments will be collected from the sender and brought into Ireland by DHL. The delivery is then handled by An Post

https://www.dhl.com/ie-en/home/our-divisions/parcel/private-customers/faq.html

I contacted Blackship, the mail forwarding service in Japan.

I asked them about requesting the CN23 label, regardless of weight and value. I briefly explained our situation with An Post returning packages. They seemed to be well aware of the issue.

This was their reply to me. I added the bold, those were the questions from my previous email to them:

• I think that last line "the one returned" was meant to say "ones."

So there you go. Other countries are getting the hint about An Post. And DHL and FedEx should be okay, just keep an eye on your tracking and junk folder. It's going to cost a fortune though, not just delivery but the declared VAT and fees. I think their fee is €10 (compared to An Post's €3.50). But paying the VAT was never my issue, I just want my packages.

This is a very helpful post.

I wonder is the CN22/CN23 issue down to individual staff error and perhaps general confusion arisen in staff trying to comprehend what they're being instructed to do. I can't see any ambiguity or nuance that would lead to the interpretation that all packages should require a CN23. The very reason a CN22 exists, which is an abridged version of the CN23, is clearly to apply a proportional level of information to less sizeable and valuable packages. It seems like a complete breakdown of communication internally. It would really help if An Post could call out the committing of this error, explain the root cause and advise they have taken remedial action to prevent its reoccurrence. Instead as recipients we are now finding ourselves asking exporters to do non-sensical things which contradict published instructions and they are amending practices accordingly to accommodate erroneous practices. This is the kind of reputational damage An Post are creating for doing business with Ireland. Needless and bizarre. This is the message politicians need to understand but how to even articulate something so absurd.

Are you privy to information beyond what's being discussed here? Posters seem to have reported a variety of issues with exporters from across the job and not just the UK. Instances have been provided where not just incorrect or incomplete information has resulted in a return but correctly completed packages have been returned or An Post have insisted on a CN23 where a CN22 was the correct label based on weight and value. There's more factors at play here than you indicate.

Can you corroborate the claims in respect of other jurisdictions?

I would agree this shouldn't be focused on Mr Redmond but I think it's reasonable at this point to further investigate the issues being raised here and they do merit media and political attention. The post about Blackship in Japan corroborates the claims that this is primarily an An Post/Irish issue and a company is now undertaking a practice of completing a CN23 in all instances when not necessary.

Got something this morning from UK.

Standard post with a cn22 label on it.

Was a small package so maybe slipped through the net.

Have 8 fortnightly parcels since till not here.

a lot of stuff is being sent back to sender due to what customs are saying 'not enough information or not properly declared items' they seem to have taken a blanket approach to this. Its nothing to do with the address in most cases. I had something coming recently and had to chase them via online chat for ages to get it to delivered. I had another item on its way few weeks ago a phone case and they automatically sent it back to the retailer.

There's usually a description of the item when you put the references in on the An Post website and get onto the next screen or two. The description reference will only be as good as the description input by the exporter. The value mightn't correspond because the exporters sometimes under declare the value. VAT is also applied on the shipping cost.

That's the $64 question. The seller is required to attach an electronically generated customs label whose data is communicated in advance to the postal/customs service of countries which require this (Ireland/EU since July 1st). The data required varies depending on country of destination. See here for what Ireland requires, under the FAQ tag "What do I need to do when sending an item to Ireland?"

I'm still not sure how you/ the sender electronically communicate this data. If they buy a DHL/USPS label online perhaps, or from a post office. A hand written label and a couple of 2 dollar stamps doesn't cut it anymore. You'll have to educate your supplier, and maybe go through the essential items on the label list, particularly Taric/HS code, weight, postage, item category (gift, sample, etc). If they have this then at least the worst that can happen is you'll be required to pay VAT and admin. No more non EU packets slipping through I'm afraid.

No one has an issue with the VAT, on goods exported here tax free from the country of origin. It's not being given the chance to pay this that's the problem, with your packet returned indiscriminately by customs/AnPost, despite being labelled with value, postage, codes etc, possibly from a supplier who remits the vat to the destination country using the One Stop Shop OSS system. It's obvious they're overwhelmed with packets, and they don't have the facility to hold and determine vat due, if any. They are supposed to give an opportunity to correct the data, its in the protocol.

My US supplier is more than happy to fill out the appropriate forms they just don't know where to obtain the CN23 form and I haven't been able to find it through searches online.

Makes it very hard to order stuff on Amazon. You need to find something in the EU that will actually deliver to Ireland, not have massive postage and attract customs.

This is the response from the supplier,

"We typically do not submit any additional declaration forms other than the commercial invoice on the package we shipped.

If you can provide a form or contact, we can and will provide anything we can to help you retrieve your package but there is no indication as far as we can see of where the package is currently or how to contact them directly.

Please see the attached commercial invoice - you may submit it to them if that may help - otherwise, please let us know whatever else we may need to provide.

You selected a shipping method that is a hybrid - UPS delivers to your local post office who is supposed to make the final delivery so UPS initiated contact with them and provided whatever shipment declarations forwarded"

Parcelforce forwarded on my surface mail package from Japan to An Post last week and it was delivered without a problem so I'm not convinced that Parcelforce is implementing things as strictly as An Post.

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Funnily enough I got a letter from An Post today from the "DMC Customs Charge Unit" looking for €8.75 VAT plus €3.50 admin charge on another parcel which they said they won't deliver if I don't pay the charge. So I checked the tracking number and they actually delivered the parcel 6 days ago so I'm not exactly motivated to pay up .

Funnier still was the item description was entered as "wig" which is not even remotely close to what was in the parcel (trading cards) which indicates that either they didn't actually examine the parcel, the data entry person had homer simpson fingers or they don't know their own codes.