Table of contents

Printing or electronically transmitting customs documents

Electronic customs data and paperless customs clearance are not the same thing.

A carrier may receive the customs information electronically while still requiring printed documents on the parcel. Paper can be omitted only when the particular origin, destination and carrier service explicitly support a fully digital process.

What AtomicSeller transmits #

When an international Colissimo label requires a CN23, AtomicSeller sends structured customs data with the label request. This includes the shipment category and the article information needed by Colissimo.

Colissimo uses this data to:

  • validate the request;
  • generate the transport label;
  • produce the CN23;
  • and transmit customs information electronically to the partners involved in clearance.

Incomplete customs data causes the request to fail before the label can be printed.

When paper documents are still required #

For most Colissimo international and overseas shipments, the operational process is:

  1. Print four copies of the CN23.
  2. Keep one copy as part of the sender’s export records.
  3. Place the remaining three copies with the parcel.
  4. Add two copies of the commercial or pro forma invoice.
  5. Insert the documents in a transparent adhesive pouch.
  6. Attach the pouch to the outside of the parcel, preferably beside the shipping label.

The documents must remain accessible to postal and customs operators. They should not be permanently glued together or hidden inside the parcel.

Some Colissimo flows are fully digital. Colissimo currently identifies the five French OM1 departments—Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte—as destinations for which its end-to-end process may remove the need for paper customs documents.

This exception should be confirmed against the current Colissimo service before dispatch.

Keep the electronic and printed data identical #

After a label has been created, do not change:

  • the contents of the parcel;
  • quantities;
  • values;
  • weights;
  • HS codes;
  • origin;
  • or customs category

without cancelling or replacing the relevant shipment documents.

The paper CN23, electronic declaration, invoice and physical contents must describe the same shipment.

Retaining evidence #

Keep the documents required to support:

  • the commercial transaction;
  • the declared value;
  • tariff classification;
  • origin;
  • export VAT treatment;
  • and proof that the goods left the EU.

Colissimo states that the sender’s CN23 copy should be retained for at least four years. Higher-value exports may require retention of the endorsed export declaration rather than relying only on a postal document.

Always apply the company’s legal and tax retention policy if it requires a longer period.