Simple customs clearance for international letter mail

Postal Delivery Duties Paid (PDDP) is an additional service for the international shipment of goods by letter post. With this service, you collect the applicable import duties and taxes from your customers during the checkout process. This fulfils the requirements for shipping to the United States. PDDP makes customs clearance simpler and more predictable, as the entire process is arranged in advance. At the same time, it helps avoid additional charges upon delivery and provides your customers with a smoother shopping experience.

At present, this service is available only for BMI and BMIS items containing goods destined for the United States and lodged at a logistics centre.

Your benefits at a glance

• Easy activation: Simply select the additional service and provide the required customs data.
• Higher delivery success rate: No payment barriers for recipients.
• Improved customer satisfaction: No unexpected charges upon delivery.
• Transparent billing: Import duties and taxes are invoiced separately.
• Attractive pricing: PDDP service fee of 2.00 euro per item.

How it works

1. Order placement: Calculate the estimated import duties and taxes during the checkout process and charge them directly to your customers. Please note that Austrian Post does not provide customs advisory services.

2. Prepare for shipping:

• Pre-advise your shipment using the "PDDP Customs Clearance at Destination" additional service via our shipping software.
• The electronic transmission of complete and accurate customs information as part of the notification data is mandatory.
• Please ensure that each individual item is correctly labelled with an S10 barcode and that a customs declaration is affixed to the item.
• Please use the PDDP posting list when posting your items.

3. Posting: Post your item at an Austrian Post logistics centre. Posting at Austrian Post service locations will be available from autumn onwards. From there, the item is transported to the destination country and handed over to the local postal operator.

4. Transport charges: Once Austrian Post has accepted the item, the standard transport charge and the PDDP service fee will be charged.

5. Customs clearance: Customs clearance and the advance payment of import duties and taxes are handled by a qualified partner in the destination country. These costs are initially paid by Austrian Post and subsequently recharged to the sender.

6. Delivery: The item is delivered to the recipient without any additional payment being required upon delivery.

7. Recharging of import duties and taxes: The import duties and taxes, together with the customs clearance partner's processing fee, will be recharged to you by Austrian Post.

Transparent billing

Billing takes place in two stages and is issued on two separate invoices:

Requirements

Basic requirement: A contractual agreement with Austrian Post for international letter mail services, together with the supplementary PDDP agreement, is required in order to use this additional service.
 
Customs calculation during the checkout process: Import duties and taxes must be calculated by you during the checkout process and charged to your customers in advance. Please ensure that these costs are calculated before posting and collected directly from your customers during checkout. Please note that Austrian Post does not provide customs advisory services and cannot calculate the estimated import duties and taxes on your behalf or assist with this calculation.

Depending on the destination country, customs duties and import VAT may apply. In addition, a processing fee will be charged by our qualified partner in the destination country.
A number of third-party providers offer Landed Cost Calculator solutions. These software tools can be used to calculate import duties and taxes (import VAT and customs duties).

Prepare for shipping

• Pre-advise your item using the "PDDP Customs Clearance in a Third Country" additional service via our shipping software.
• The electronic transmission of complete and accurate customs information as part of the notification data is mandatory.
• Each item must bear an S10 barcode (regardless of whether it is sent as an untracked item or with the Tracked additional service), which must be linked to the corresponding notification data.
• All information required for customs clearance must either be affixed to the item (customs declaration) or enclosed with it (e.g., the invoice).
• Please post PDDP items separately from other items, together with the PDDP posting list, at a Letter-Mail Logistics Centre.