Hi everyone.
I came across this forum while searching up online on a parcel that got hold at CH customs.

I have a friend couple, who recently got a newborn, and I wanted to make a surprise for them. So I've sent them 2 babygrows and a bib as a gift.

So today i was checking out tracking number and it seems my parcel got hold at switzerland customs, and they sent a notification to the client.

This will totally ruin my surprise. I've filled in a small piece of paper in which asked what was inside, and i said it was a gift. But I got the paper for me??

So, what will happen now?
Thanks for the help.

Welcome to the Forum. What was the value you declared on the Customs form?

'gift' is not enough - normally you have to put 'clothing' 'chocolate' etc... on the label.


So it's not surprising that it got stopped.

And if you didn't declare a value, Swiss Customs will gladly make one up for you, which may mean the recipient has to pay duties and a processing fee.

Maybe.

Tom

I actually didn't declare a value. It was my first time sending something to a foreign country. I stated at my local post office that it was to send an international package. The person who attended me should have informed of those procedures.
Value is approximately 20€.
If the recipient refuses to take it, will the CH post send it back to my address?

Thanks in advance

Every country I can think of in the Western world has specific laws around sending gits, and VAT/duty limits etc etc. It's your responsibility to check these things, you have no-one else to blame. Sorry if that isn't what you want to hear but now you will know for next time. I also did the same thing once... never again.

Lots of info here https://www.post.ch/en/business-solu...20CHF%20100.00.

You're not alone .. It's a common mistake..

For years our kids got little packages from grandparents, low value just clothes and little toys.. Despite telling them multiple times they rarely declared the packages properly. Often they were held or opened by customs but I don't think we got fined / billed, maybe once or twice.

Worse case your friend gets a 30.- bill for customs work .. They can refuse it and it'll get back to you eventually.

That would have been helpful. Certainly when I've sent stuff from here abroad, I've been asked the value and contents (when the post worker fills it in for me, rather than just handing me the form to fill in). But I guess ALL international post needs to be declared here - whereas obviously between EU countries it isn't required, so it's understandable the Portugese clerk might not have been aware.

€20 is below the limit, so if you'd declared it properly, you'd probably have been ok. But even then a proportion of low value items are checked to try to stop cheating on the declaration.

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Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

2 babygrows and a bib, declared as a gift. In my personal experience the people at customs are fairly accurate in their value estimation (which Swiss in their right mind would BUY baby clothing items from Portugal by themselves...it's quite obviously an actual gift), and it could very well happen that they will take accept your "gift" declaration, even without the value, and forward the package to the recipient anyhow. I wouldn't worry at all just yet.

There is the standardized postal customs declaration forms CN-22 and CN-23.
They must be filled in any time you send items from one customs area into another. Most of the EU territory is one big customs area. Switzerland is not neither part of the EU nor the EU customs area. Accordingly a CN-22/23 should have been used.

Common mistakes people do:
- Do not attach a CN-22/23 do the shipment.
- Do not list in detail was is inside.
- State a too high value (note this is not for insurance this is a "tax" declaration).
- State a too low value.
- Mark it as gift when it is a commercial shipment. (Most countries have higher duty and tax free limits for gifts than commercial goods).


What you can do:
Give your friend a list of the items in the package and its value. Just like you would have used on the CN-22/23.

The post office clerk should not have accepted the package w/o the form CN-22/23 attached. If there was a form CN-22/23 attached and you have not filled the form truthfully than it was your own mistake.

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What?

When I was in Switzerland my Mum posted over a few hand knitted things for the baby. She asked one of her staff to drop it at the post office. She filled out the declaration with the maximum value in case the item got lost so my Mum could claim

Got a nice big customs bill when that was delivered

In terms of detailed list and not wanting to spoil the surprise, you don't have to be THAT detailed.

too much detail:
blue newborn babygrow, € 3.24
pink newborn babygrow, € 4.17
purple baby bib with pocket, € 2.59
Total: € 10

enough detail:
2 baby outfits and a bib € 10

Just "Clothing €10" is enough.

So the package has left the customs. But the recipient was away, does the Swiss post leave a notification on the mailbox informing that there was an attempt to deliver a package?

Normally IN the mailbox. Unless they have signed up for Swiss Post’s notification service, they would have received a notification.

Unless it was small enough to be put into the milkbox, then the package will have be left there

Great thread!
The Swiss Post link posted by Chuff says -"Gifts sent from private individuals living abroad to private individuals in Switzerland are duty-free up to a goods value of CHF 100.00."
Just to be clear, if someone is sending you something worth less than 100 CHF, they should still fill up and attach CN22?

Yes, otherwise how will the authorities know it's a gift and what the value is?