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Where carriers take the EU product identifiers
The regulation says what customs needs; each carrier decides where you type it. The pattern is the same everywhere: identifiers go on the commercial invoice line items or the equivalent item fields in the shipping platform or API — and every carrier expects you to bring the values.
What each carrier's own pages say (read 22 September 2026)
| Carrier / tool | What their page says | What you should do |
|---|---|---|
| FedEx | UK customs page: product identifiers are required for every product in a B2C shipment regardless of value (not for B2B VAT-registered recipients) and enforced from 1 November 2026. FedEx Ship Manager on fedex.com, the FedEx API and the Import Tool take the codes per line item. Installed Ship Manager, Ship Manager Server and Unified Specification Exchange support them only from March 2027 — until then FedEx says to add the codes to the commercial invoice or packing list. FedEx emails the shipper when codes are missing or inaccurate. | Use web Ship Manager or the API if you can; otherwise put the three values on every invoice line. Send one test parcel before November. |
| UPS | US customs page: three product identifiers required per line item for B2C shipments as of 1 November (B2B: not required). UPS's own checklist: identify affected products, collect the merchant, manufacturer and standardised identifiers, validate data quality, update systems, test — "missing or inaccurate data could lead to customs delays or holds". | Work the checklist against your Shopify export. Field names for WorldShip and the API were not on that page — ask your UPS contact. |
| DHL Express | UK page (guidance as of June 2026): a second wave of mandatory data on 1 November 2026 for all B2C import declarations; the merchant identifier and the manufacturer identifier must be included, the standardised identifier is described as optional. Codes are entered per product line in MyDHL+ or added to your integration's shipment data. | Enter all three where you can. DHL's wording for the manufacturer identifier ("yours / the manufacturer's internal product identifier, such as a SKU") is looser than the regulation, which assigns it to the manufacturer, producer or supplier — see Same SKU for both? |
| Royal Mail (Click & Drop) | Spreadsheet import has one field, Reference ID: "the manufacturer's product reference (internal or standardised), e.g. GTIN, EAN, UPC" — listed as optional for EU/USA on the same page that marks it required for international orders. | One box for both the maker's code and the barcode; ask Royal Mail which they prefer and keep both values in your own data. |
| Sendcloud | UK-to-EU help article lists three item fields — merchant identifier (e.g. SKU), non-standardised manufacturer identifier, standardised identifier if available — for shipments under €150; labels can be created without them but they are "strongly recommended". | Fill all three. Note the regulation's identifier requirement is not limited to €150 consignments. |
| Shippo (API docs) | Customs line items carry title, SKU, HS code, quantity, value and country of manufacture. No manufacturer or standardised identifier field was documented on 22 September 2026. | Ask Shippo about identifier fields; otherwise add the codes on the commercial invoice. |
| Shopify Shipping | Help pages require HS codes and precise descriptions for international labels; no product identifier field is documented. | Keep the three values in a metafield or side sheet so you can copy them into whichever tool prints the label. |
Prepare the data once, use it everywhere
Whatever the carrier calls the fields, the three values per item are the same. Get them right in your catalog first — check your Shopify export — then map them into each carrier's fields.
Questions
Do I put the codes on the customs form or the invoice?
For express carriers the commercial invoice line items (or the equivalent item fields in their software) are where the identifiers are captured; the carrier's broker moves them into the declaration. FedEx says explicitly that shippers whose tools cannot yet carry the codes should add them to the commercial invoice or packing list.
What if I use a shipping app connected to Shopify?
Check whether the app has item-level fields for the three identifiers and whether it reads them from Shopify. Sendcloud documents three fields; Shippo's API docs showed none on 22 September 2026. Most apps read SKU and barcode; few have a manufacturer-code field yet, so you may need to add it in the app or on the invoice.
Do B2B shipments need product identifiers?
FedEx and UPS both state the requirement is for B2C shipments and does not apply to B2B VAT-registered recipients in the destination country. Confirm your case with your customs representative.