Jan 06, 2023

FedEx APIs: Northern Ireland Brexit Shipping Requirements

We are pleased to announce that from 16th January 2023 you will now be able to complete your UK domestic shipments, along with the import declarations, to Northern Ireland electronically using FedEx APIs.
As you are aware, Import declarations are required, and duties may be charged, unless goods are not declared as not ‘at risk’. There are two ways that goods brought into Northern Ireland from Great Britain are not ‘at risk’:

• The applicable EU tariff is zero (including where they are eligible under the TCA).
• The goods are for sale to, or final use by, end consumers located in the UK and are brought into Northern Ireland by a trader authorised under the UK Trader Scheme.

From today, you can develop and test these shipments in our Sandbox environment in preparation.

What are the latest requirements for shipments from GB to NI?

Customers should provide a commercial invoice that includes an Harmonised code, description, value, shipper, and receiver EORI numbers, incoterms, and signature.

What changes are needed in the Ship API request?

For UK domestic shipments destined to Northern Ireland, you will need to provide customs clearance information (as mentioned above). You will be able to use and upload your own commercial invoice or alternatively you can use a FedEx generated commercial invoice.
The FedEx generated commercial invoice uses the customs clearance information you provide in the shipping request to create the commercial invoice.
FedEx Electronic Trade Documents (ETD) is the best way to exchange customs paperwork information with us. We strongly encourage FedEx customers to utilise the Trade Document Upload API. By using ETD, you will also reduce the number of labels and documents required to be printed for your shipment. For shipments that utilise the ETD functionality to Northern Ireland (UK Post Codes that begin with “BT”) only require one shipping label per package and the remaining labels and documents are uploaded automatically (if using the FedEx generated Commercial Invoice).
To create your FedEx generated Commercial Invoice electronically, you will need to amend your shipping requests to Northern Ireland to include:

• Customs Clearance Detail:
  

   
  "customsClearanceDetail": {
  	"commercialInvoice": {
  		"customerReferences": [
  			{
  			"customerReferenceType": "INVOICE_NUMBER",
  			"value": "3686"
  			}
  		],
  		"packingCosts": {
  			"amount": 12.45,
  			"currency": "UKL"
  		},
  		"handlingCosts": {
  			"amount": 12.45,
  			"currency": "UKL"
  		},
  		"freightCharge": {
  			"amount": 12.45,
  			"currency": "UKL"
  		},
  		"insuranceCharge": {
  			"amount": 0,
  			"currency": "UKL"
  		},
  		"declarationStatement": "Declaration Text",
  		"termsOfSale": "FCA",
  		"specialInstructions": "Special Instructions Text",
  		"shipmentPurpose": "SOLD"
  	},
  	"dutiesPayment": {
  		"paymentType": "SENDER"
  	},
  	"totalCustomsValue": {
  		"amount": 10,
  		"currency": "UKL"
  	},
  	"commodities": [
  		{
  			"description": "non-threaded rivets",
  			"harmonizedCode": "0613",
  			"countryOfManufacture": "GB",
  			"quantity": 1,
  			"quantityUnits": "PCS",
  			"unitPrice": {
  				"amount": 10,
  				"currency": "UKL"
  			},
  			"customsValue": {
  				"amount": 10,
  				"currency": "UKL"
  			},
  			"weight": {
  				"units": "KG",
  				"value": 0.1
  			}
  		}
  	]
  },
  

• Sender Tax Information:
  

  "shipper": {
  	"tins": [
  		{
  			"number": "GB123456789",
  			"tinType": "BUSINESS_UNION"
  		}
  	],
  

• Recipient Tax Information:
  

  "recipients": {
  	"tins": [
  		{
  			"number": "GB987654321",
  			"tinType": "BUSINESS_UNION"
  		}
  	],
  

• Shipping Document Specifications:
  

  "shippingDocumentSpecification": {
  	"shippingDocumentTypes": [
  		"COMMERCIAL_INVOICE"
  	],
  	"commercialInvoiceDetail": {
  		"customerImageUsages": [
  		{
  			"id": "IMAGE_1",
  			"type": "LETTER_HEAD",
  			"providedImageType": "LETTER_HEAD"
  		},
  		{
  			"id": "IMAGE_2",
  			"type": "SIGNATURE",
  			"providedImageType": "SIGNATURE"
  		}
  		],
  		"documentFormat": {
  			"stockType": "PAPER_LETTER",
  			"docType": "PDF"
  		}
  	}
  },
  

• FedEx ETD Special Service:
  

  "shipmentSpecialServices": {
  	"specialServiceTypes": [
  		"ELECTRONIC_TRADE_DOCUMENTS"
  	],
  	"etdDetail": {
  		"requestedDocumentTypes": [
  			"COMMERCIAL_INVOICE"
  		]
  	}
  },
  

• Commercial Invoice Images (using the Trade Documents Upload API):
  

  Key	Value
  Document	{ "document":{ "referenceId":"CompLogo", "name":"Company Logo.png", "contentType":"image/png", "meta":{ "imageType":"LETTERHEAD", "imageIndex":"IMAGE_1" } }, "rules":{ "workflowName":"LetterheadSignature" } }
  Attachment	Company logo.png

  Note:

  • Digital Signature – The limitation for the signature is 240x25 pixels and the images can be in GIF, PNG formats.
  • Company Letterhead/Logo – The limitation for the logo is 700x50 pixels and images can be in GIF, PNG formats.

What happens if the changes are not made?

From 23rd January 2023, if the changes are not made to the Ship API requests then the shipments to Northern Ireland will fail with the error and will have to be created using fedex.com or another automation product:

"errors": [
	{
		"code": "TOTALCUSTOMSVALUE.REQUIRED",
		"message": "Customs Value is required."
	}
]

What happens if the changes are released before the date?

If you have made the required changes and moved them to production before 23rd January 2023 then the shipment will fail and will have to be created using fedex.com or another automation product:

"errors": [
	{
		"code": "SHIPMENTSPECIALSERVICES.ETDDETAIL.NOTAVAILABLE",
		"message": "Electronic trade documents are not available for domestic shipments. 
					Please update and try again."
	}
]

For more information around the Ship API and Trade Documents Upload API, please visit the FedEx Developer Portal Catalog and for more information regarding the Brexit requirements for Northern Ireland, please visit fedex.com.