Customs description for EU parcels: what Shopify sends, and how to fix it
Shopify Shipping's customs form usually describes each item with the standard text of its HS code, not your product title. EU customs hold or send back parcels whose goods they can't identify, so check the description when you buy the label. Shipping apps such as Starshipit, ShipStation and Sendcloud use the product title or the item's name instead: make it say what the item is.
What Shopify Shipping puts on the form
Shopify says the description usually comes from the item's HS code, and every code has a standard description, often longer or more technical than your product's name. Only when the code has none does it use the product name. You can change the text under "Edit customs information" while you buy the label, but the change is for that label only: Shopify doesn't save it to the product.
That is how a parcel of dolls to the Netherlands came back in July 2024 marked "Insufficient Content Description": the form carried the HS heading for toys, a long list of kinds of toy, and the merchant paid to send it again with each item described by hand.
What other shipping apps use
- Starshipit: the product title, or the product metafield custom.customs_description when you add one.
- ShipStation: the item's name on the order, or the customs description you save on its product (under 50 characters, it says).
- Sendcloud: the item's name or description from your store, up to 50 characters.
- Royal Mail Click & Drop: the customs description saved on its product, which its own lookup can flag as too vague.
What EU customs reject
The European Commission lists general terms that can't be used on their own, because they don't say what the goods are. The list isn't complete, and the Commission updated it on 3rd August 2026. Some of the terms, with the kind of description it gives instead:
| Not accepted alone | Write instead, for example |
|---|---|
| Apparel, Clothes, Clothing, Garments | Men's shirts, girls' vests, cotton T-shirts |
| Accessories | Bathroom fittings, lighting accessories, plastic phone cases |
| Gifts, Toys | Dolls, remote control cars |
| Electronics | Mobile phones, monitors, printers |
| Shoes, Footwear | Men's leather shoes, women's plastic sandals |
| Parts, Spare parts | Pumps, seals, engines |
| Jewellery, Samples, Various, Miscellaneous, Merchandise, Goods | What the item actually is |
A description can't be only digits or only symbols either. Whatever the app, say what the item is, what it is made of and what it is for: "Women's cotton T-shirt", not "Clothing".
Fixing it for many products
For apps that use your product titles, rename the products whose title is only such a word. PIDReady's Fixes page lists them ("Gift Set", "Accessories", "Mystery Box") with a link to edit each one in Shopify. For Shopify Shipping, the text follows the HS code, so make sure each variant has the right code for what it is: PIDReady checks every variant's HS code and suggests one where it is missing.
Common questions
Why was my EU parcel returned for an insufficient description?
Customs couldn't tell from the declaration what the goods were. In Shopify Shipping the text usually comes from the item's HS code unless you change it when you buy the label; in other shipping apps it is usually the product title or the item's name on the order. Say what the item is, what it is made of and what it is for.
Does Shopify save the description I type when buying a label?
No. Shopify applies the change to that label only. It can save the HS code and country of origin to the product, but not the description.
Can an app set the description Shopify Shipping uses?
No. Shopify's Admin API has no customs description field on products or variants (checked in API version 2026-10), so the text comes from the HS code, or from your change when you buy the label. Starshipit is different: it reads a product metafield, custom.customs_description, if you add one.
Can I write "Gift" or "Accessories"?
Not on their own. Both are on the European Commission's list of terms customs can't accept alone. Say what the gift or accessory is: dolls, a plastic phone case, a leather watch strap.
How long can the description be?
It depends on who sends it. In their own APIs, USPS takes 30 characters, UPS 35 per line (up to three lines), Australia Post 40 and Canada Post 45; Royal Mail's spreadsheet import takes 50, as do Sendcloud and ShipStation's product description. FedEx and DHL Express take far more. Shopify says some carriers shorten long text.
Check your catalogue
PIDReady is a Shopify app that checks every variant for the three identifiers, the HS code and the country of origin, helps you fill the gaps one by one or in bulk, and downloads a file for your carrier. The free plan does every fix, for any size of store.
Questions about the rule, app or no app? Email support@pidready.com: we reply within one working day.
More guides
Sources
- Shopify Help Center, customs documentation
- European Commission, acceptable and unacceptable terms for the description of goods (v4.10)
- European Commission, Import Control System 2 (updated list of stop words)
- Starshipit, import optional data from Shopify
- ShipStation, configure customs forms
- Sendcloud, create an international shipment
- Shopify Community, parcel returned for its description
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1022 of 30th April 2026 (EUR-Lex). It was published in the Official Journal on 1st July 2026 with 30th June in its title; the Official Journal's corrigendum of 3rd July 2026 corrected that date to 30th April.
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 of 21st September 2026 (EUR-Lex): the Union handling fee is EUR 2 per item. Published in the Official Journal on 22nd October 2026; it applies from 1st November 2026.
- European Commission, guidance on the temporary EUR 3 customs duty and the Union handling fee, version of 5th October 2026