Postal rules change for overseas parcels

People wanting to send parcels outside the EU, such as the UK or US, are now required to fill in an online form before turning up at a Cyprus post office.

To keep in line with international treaties while minimizing the time people spend at post offices during the pandemic, Cyprus Post announced on Monday that people will be obliged to fill an online form with the details of the package.

In comments to Financial Mirror, acting General Manager of Cyprus Post Pavlos Pavlides said that as of January 1, senders of parcels will be obliged to fill in the Shipping and Transmission Data Sheet (customs declaration) themselves.

Pavlides explained that the new regulation is a requirement put forward by the World Customs Organisation.

“The new requirement aims at making Customs’ job easier when it comes to checking items while speeding up processes.”

The acting manager of Cyprus Post said senders can easily fill in the form by following simple instructions laid out on the relevant page https://shipping.cypruspost.post/shipping-be-api-web/#/en/

“This also comes in helpful as at a time when we have a global pandemic on our hands, we are trying to minimise people’s presence at the post offices,” said Pavlides.

He warned that filing in the form is obligatory and that third countries such as the USA, do not accept parcels which are not accompanied by the said electronic form.

“The public is strongly advised to prepare the Delivery Notes from home or their office, before going to the Post Office.

“We do expect that some of our fellow citizens may be unable to do so before coming to the post office due to their lack of skills or equipment. Our offices are equipped with tablets that can be used by the public in such cases.”

Senders do not need to pre-print any item and will just need to take note of the reference number that will be given by the Shipping Tool application.

Envelopes containing written correspondence will be sent with the usual procedure, without senders needing to fill in any forms.