Commodity Description
The customs clearance process begins with the descriptions on the Air Waybill. By completing your Air Waybills carefully - and by taking special care to provide clear, accurate and detailed commodity descriptions - you will help us to reduce clearance and delivery times.
Unacceptably vague, ambiguous, inaccurate or incomplete descriptions may result in shipments being held in customs or rejected, leading to delays and possible penalties.
What is an acceptable description?
An acceptable description provides the precise information for customs to identify and verify the shapes, physical characteristics and packaging of each shipment. A good description needs to answer the following questions: What is it? How many? What is it made from? and What is its intended use?
Under customs regulations, general descriptions such as "electronics" are not detailed enough but descriptions of "CD players" or "computer monitors" are acceptable. Blank descriptions and vague, unhelpful expressions should be avoided, such as "general merchandise", "samples", "promotional materials", "parts" and "see commercial invoice". Look at the table below for examples.
Faster, easier shipping with FedEx
At FedEx we will do "whatever it takes" to ensure that your shipments are delivered on time. By completing your Air Waybills correctly and in line with customs regulations, you can help us to avoid any delays.
We make shipping easy with our free Shipping Tools, which include FedEx Ship Manager® and FedEx® Global Trade Manager for international shipping assistance. In addition to our convenient, easy-to-use and time-saving services at fedex.com/no, electronic data transfer enables you to start the customs clearance process much earlier. If you need assistance with completing your Air Waybills, or for any other information about our services please contact Customer Service.
As per customs request, please remember that the shipment descriptions on your Air Waybills must always be in English.
| Poor description (vague and unacceptable) |
Good description (specific and acceptable) |
| Caps | Baseball caps Bottle caps Hub caps |
| Documents | Legal documents |
| Electronics | Laptop computers Mobile telephones |
| Flooring | Ceramic tiles Plastic flooring Wood flooring |
| Rubber articles | Rubber hoses Rubber conveyor belts |
| Wires | Electric wires Automotive harness |