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~ PostNL ~

this information with the destination countries. The free Over the course of the coming year, more and more countries
movement of goods within the European Union (EU) will follow suit and block the passage of non-compliant
means that less information is required for shipments among shipments.
member countries; however, the timely exchange of data
applies to all countries, both inside and outside the EU. Getting the pre-alerting right will greatly speed things up
at the border; items that are correctly labelled with accurate
Before handing items over to drop-off locations or sorting information in all required fields will sail through customs,
centres, outgoing shipments are first “A BARCODE COMBINED provided there are no illegal or dangerous
registered online. This is known as goods inside.
“pre-alerting”. Here, you enter your WITH PRE-ALERTED DATA
customs descriptions and all shipping What are my options?
information in advance for shipments ENSURES BETTER QUALITY. Now is the time to connect your customer
outside of the EU via an online systems to the new regulations, and
THIS MEANS FASTER
portal. Additional information may be PostNL is ready to help with a clear and
requested in the process that you didn’t easy process. If your e-commerce flows
PROCESSING AND DELIVERY
have to provide before, such as the aren’t yet compliant, PostNL can assist
phone numbers or email addresses of in setting them up and get them running
both sender and recipient. OF SHIPMENTS WITH GOODS, as more and more countries demand
barcodes and correct pre-alerting.
AND IT APPLIES TO ALL
PostNL has adjusted its customer
channels and product portfolio to If you operate a web shop connected via
FOREIGN DESTINATIONS.”
prepare for the new regulations. You a third party, such as a plugin, integrator
can enter all the data through our or logistics platform, that party will have
customer channels, so it can be passed on, correctly and on to adapt their software accordingly. For online shops sending
time, to the destination country. This takes the guesswork out more than 50 shipments a year, PostNL offers business
of what information needs to be entered for which country. solutions which include cheaper rates.
Customers simply follow the flow in the PostNL pre-alerting
channels step by step. To recap, pre-alerting is done via an online portal in the
parcels and freight module of Mijn PostNL or the PostNL
Pre-alerting is a good habit for all shipments, no matter their API. Shipping labels with barcodes are pre-notified and
destination; they comply with customs regulations, lower the automatically provided.
risk of missing items and speed up processes. They simply get
there faster. In our changing world, as we increasingly buy and sell
goods and services online and ship overseas, as we watch
Ellen Talsma from PostNL explains: “A barcode combined e-commerce grow, PostNL is there to make navigating
with pre-alerted data ensures better quality. This means faster these changes easier. Peace of mind matters to you and your
processing and delivery of shipments with goods, and it customers. And the promise that items shipped arrive on
applies to all foreign destinations.” time, wherever in the world that may be. ••

Why this matters Visit the PostNL website for more detailed information: postnl/veranderingen
International regulations are generally determined by the
Universal Postal Union (UPU), such as the decision to
identify a clear split between sending documents or goods. As
PostNL is a member of the UPU and strives for the highest
service level for its customers, PostNL is ready for these
changes.

What could happen if you don’t comply with the new
regulations? You might see your shipments returned to you.
Some countries outside the EU are already blocking non-
compliant incoming shipments, such as the United States,
Brazil and Turkey. These shipments might not have a barcode,
or the pre-alerting digital information is incomplete or
inaccurate.

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