International Business Parcels Returns

The Standard version of this service is available from 28 countries. There are Fully Paid and Part Paid ‘Local Look’ options, allowing you to choose between covering all or part of the customer’s return postage. These options are not as widely available.

Download the International Business Parcels Returns user guide (pdf, 1.31 MB) to find out more.

On 24 December 2020, the UK and the EU reached an agreement on how to trade (the Trade and Cooperation Agreement). It entered into force on 1 January 2021. As a result of the agreement, the UK is no longer part of the EU’s single market and customs union and new rules apply. 

From 1 January 2021, the UK has extended the rules which applied to non-EU postal items before. Similarly, the EU now treats postal items from the UK as it did non-EU items before. This means there may be changes to how you send and receive items from abroad.

For more information on how sending and receiving items to the EU may be impacted from 1 January 2021, please click here.
 

Electronic Customs Pre-advice Data

It is now mandatory to provide electronic customs pre-advice data and an S10 barcode when you ship abroad.

Use one of our data-compliant shipping platforms – Click & Drop, Pro Shipping or API shipping – to automate this process and take the stress out of electronic customs.

Prohibitions and restrictions apply to returns as well as sent items.

We restrict or prohibit certain items from our network. You are advised to carefully read the restrictions on items like:

• Batteries
• Aerosols
• Perfumes or aftershaves
• Nail varnish, polish or gel

Check our prohibitions and restrictions guide.

It’s also your responsibility to check the prohibited and restricted items for countries you trade with.

International Business Parcels Returns user guide (pdf, 1.31 MB)

International Response Services specific terms and conditions (pdf, 187.12 KB)

International Business Parcels Returns Standard Template (doc, 414.5 KB)

Royal Mail Business Parcels Returns Indicia (zip, 1.05 MB)