United States Postal Service ® employees must use PS Form 2976-R, USPS Declaration and Dispatch Note, when gathering package information from all customers mailing international packages (including military mail), that require customs forms at retail windows. This method will ensure that every package carries with it Advance Electronic Data as required by various trade compliance rules and regulations.
Effective March 13, 2020, the U.S. Postal Service ® will exclusively use PS Form 2976-R to transfer information from customers to retail sales and service associates for data entry. Packages bearing handwritten Customs Declaration forms (PS Form 2976, Customs Declaration CN 22, PS Form 2976-A, Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note CP 72, and PS Form 2976-B, Priority Mail Express International Shipping Label and Customs Form) will no longer be accepted.
n Generate customs forms online ( usps.com/international/customs-forms.htm ) to print a combined shipping label and customs label without postage, or
n Use Click-N-Ship ® ( cns.usps.com ) to print a label with postage.
n CFO ( usps.com/international/customs-forms.htm ), and placing postage on the article at non-RSS offices.
USPS will return to sender (RTS) all mailpieces found in the mail stream bearing handwritten customs declaration forms. USPS will not tender mailpieces bearing handwritten customs forms to international mail processing centers, U.S. Customs, international transportation, or foreign posts for delivery. The sole exception to this policy are items originating at MPOs:
1. March 13, 2020: MPO customers sending international packages must create their combined shipping label and customs form via electronic means. USPS solutions, such as Click-N-Ship or CFO, will satisfy requirements for any item sent internationally which requires a customs form (according to Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, International Mail Manual rules) and will help reduce wait-time in line for MPO customers.
2. August 13, 2020: On this date, MPOs will stop accepting any handwritten customs forms on packages. MPOs will also begin scanning barcodes from CFO receipts and labels, which will simplify transactions and creation of forms at MPOs for all packages.
3. September 13, 2020: Implementation of a final and complete end to all handwritten customs forms in the mail stream will be delayed until this date to allow for transit time of any items coming to the USPS from MPOs. From this date forward, any item discovered in the USPS mail stream (no matter the source or destination) with a handwritten customs form will be RTS.
The CFO site ( usps.com/international/customs-forms.htm ) will assist a customer in creating and printing a completed label without postage. The CFO label must be applied directly to the package before purchasing postage (from the MPSA representative) in a standard mailing transaction.
Click-N-Ship ® ( cns.usps.com ) is available for any customer, including military personnel outside of the geographic boundaries of the United States, who needs to print a completed combined shipping label and customs form with postage. Customers who know the weight of their package may bypass lines and retail processing (in-person acceptance in certain circumstances still applies), and quickly mail their pre-paid article via existing MPSA acceptance procedures.
1. If the article is destined for an international address (until the start of Tour One, local time, Saturday, April 4, 2020).
n Complete and print the combined shipping label and customs form elsewhere, using CFO ( usps.com/international/customs-forms.htm ) to print a label without postage or Click-N-Ship ® ( cns.usps.com ) for a label with postage, then return to the retail location with the mailpiece.
n Non-RSS offices will use CFO ( usps.com/international/customs-forms.htm ) to generate electronically printed customs forms to affix to customers’ mailpieces.