Product identifiers

Product identifiers are codes that identify the items in a shipment, so customs authorities can match them to the products you sell. You enter product identifiers under Lines in the Customs information section of a shipment, and they're sent to the carrier with the shipment.

When to use this

Use product identifiers when you ship items from outside the EU to end customers in the EU.

Important

Product identifier fields are available only for carriers that support product identifiers, for example, FedEx, UPS, DPD UK, and Maersk. The fields shown can also depend on the destination country and the customs documents that you select. The identifiers are sent only when the shipment includes customs information.

Key concepts

Merchant product identifier — unique code that you assign to an item, usually the SKU, item code, or product code

Non-standardized manufacturer product identifier — code that the manufacturer or supplier assigns to an item, such as a model number

Standardized manufacturer product identifier — internationally recognized code for an item, such as a GTIN, EAN, or ISBN

Carriers can name the fields differently, but all three fields hold the same information. For example:

Merchant product identifier: Article number / Merchant Product ID (M-PID)
Non-standardized manufacturer product identifier: Manufacturer Product ID (NS-PID)
Standardized manufacturer product identifier: Standardized Product ID (S-PID)

Important

For shipments from outside the EU to end customers in the EU, the merchant product identifier and the non-standardized manufacturer product identifier are required for every item. Enter both on every customs line. Enter the standardized manufacturer product identifier when the item has one.

Note

nShift Delivery doesn't print the identifiers on the customs documents that it creates. If your carrier provides the customs documents, the carrier decides whether the identifiers are printed.

API fields

If you create shipments through the API, add the product identifiers to each customs line in the shipment request.

Identifier	API field
Merchant product identifier	LineArticleNo
Non-standardized manufacturer product identifier	LineManufacturerProductId
Standardized manufacturer product identifier	LineStandardizedProductId

Example of one customs line:

{
  "LineArticleNo": "SHOE-BLK-42",
  "LineManufacturerProductId": "SH123456-L",
  "LineStandardizedProductId": "00012345678905",
  "statNo": "64039990",
  "sourceCountryCode": "CN",
  "contents": "Black shoes",
  "copies": 1,
  "value": 100
}