Product descriptions for customs

Those three cover most goods. Add the state of the goods if that changes the code (raw, frozen, unassembled), and say who it's for if the tariff divides by that (men's, women's, children's).

The EU keeps a non-exhaustive list of generic terms, and it says "consolidated", "general cargo", "parts" and "freight of all kinds" can't be accepted. That guidance gives "gifts" a suggested replacement: say what the gift is. Vague wording can bring a physical exam, and the shipment waits while that happens.

Where classification depends on the materials, the US asks for a breakdown of each component's value or weight. Certain classes of goods have their own required invoice content, so check that section before your first shipment of a new product. For machines, CBP says invoices should say what's included, and spares should be identified as spares.

As an illustration, a line that reads SKU 4471 Luxe Glow Serum x 200, $1,800 tells customs nothing. It could be a cosmetic, a medicine or a toy. Compare:

200 glass bottles of facial serum, 30 ml each, cosmetic use, containing hyaluronic acid and vitamin C. For retail sale. Not a medicine. HS 3304.99. Made in South Korea. Unit price $9.00, line total $1,800.00.

Now the officer has the function, the state, the packing and the claim, and can see that 200 x $9.00 adds up. Don't put in claims you can't back: "not a medicine" only works if your marketing doesn't say otherwise, because regulators read that too.

Your commercial invoice, packing list and waybill should tell one story. Differences between them are a common reason for a query at the border, and the carrier's system takes its data from whichever document it got first. A pre-loading security filing like ICS2 reads that description before the goods fly. If your catalogue has hundreds of lines, it's worth writing the customs description once, as a field in your product data, and not leaving it to whoever raises the waybill.

Use the HS code classifier to see whether your description is enough to get to a code. If it can't get there, an officer probably won't either.