CN22 and CN23 customs declaration forms: a line-by-line guide for Australian senders

Every parcel leaving Australia through the postal network needs a customs declaration, and there are two forms in play: the CN22 and the CN23. They are Universal Postal Union documents, which is why the same two forms turn up in every postal system in the world, and why the rules for which one applies are set internationally rather than by Australia Post. Getting the choice and the contents right is the difference between a parcel that moves and a parcel that sits in a customs facility waiting for someone to answer a question.

CN22 vs CN23: which customs declaration form do you need?

The short version is that the CN22 is the small green label for low-value items and the CN23 is the longer, full declaration for higher-value ones. The cut-over is set by the UPU in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), an IMF accounting unit, at 300 SDR. Because SDR moves against the Australian dollar, the AUD figure shifts — Australia Post publishes the current equivalent, and that published figure is the one to use rather than an amount you saw quoted in an older article.

Two practical notes. Express and courier services such as DHL use their own commercial invoice and waybill rather than CN forms, so this page applies to the postal stream. And some destinations require the fuller CN23 regardless of value — always check the destination-country requirements rather than assuming value alone decides.

Completing the CN22, field by field

1. Category of item. Tick one: gift, documents, commercial sample, returned goods, sale of goods, or other. This is not a cosmetic choice — declaring a commercial sale as a gift to dodge duty is a false declaration.
2. Detailed description of contents. Be specific. "Clothing" is weak; "2 x cotton t-shirts, men's" is what customs wants. Vague entries are the single most common reason for a hold.
3. Quantity. The number of each item type, not the number of boxes.
4. Net weight. The weight of the goods themselves in kilograms, per line item.
5. Value. The actual value in the currency you specify, per line item. Use the price paid, or a genuine market value for a gift.
6. Total weight and total value. These must add up to the line items above them. Mismatches trigger manual review.
7. HS tariff number and country of origin. Optional on the CN22 in some cases, but strongly recommended, and mandatory for many destinations. Include them.
8. Signature and date. An unsigned declaration is invalid. This is the most frequently missed field on the form.

Completing the CN23, field by field

The CN23 asks for everything on the CN22 plus the detail a customs authority needs to assess duty properly:

• Full sender and addressee details, including a contact telephone number or email for both. Many destinations now reject or delay parcels with no recipient contact number.
• Itemised goods lines, each with its own description, HS tariff number, country of origin, quantity, net weight and value.
• Postal charges and insurance, shown separately from goods value. This matters because some destinations calculate duty on goods value alone and others on the delivered cost.
• Import licence or certificate numbers where the goods require one — common for food, plant material, cosmetics and some electronics.
• An explanation for the shipment, and the sender's declaration and signature.

The HS tariff number is where most senders stall. It is a six-digit international classification code, extended by individual countries with further digits. You can look up the appropriate code through the destination country's tariff schedule, or ask your carrier or forwarder to classify the goods — a misclassification that understates duty is treated as the sender's problem.

Electronic advance data: the part the paper form no longer covers

Since the phased introduction of electronic advance data requirements across major postal networks, the paper CN form is increasingly a backup to a data message transmitted ahead of the parcel. The European Union's import control system and the United States' advance electronic data rules both mean that a parcel with an incomplete or missing electronic declaration can be refused before it ever reaches the destination's customs desk.

In practice this means lodging your parcel through a system that captures the declaration digitally — Australia Post's online lodgement, or a forwarder's booking flow — rather than hand-writing a label at the counter. The information is the same; the transmission is what matters. Check the current requirements for your destination on the Australia Post international sending pages.

The mistakes that get parcels held

A pre-lodgement checklist

1. Confirm the contents are not prohibited or restricted by the carrier or the destination — see our reference on prohibited and restricted items for parcel forwarding.
2. Check the destination's duty and tax de minimis, since that decides whether the recipient pays anything at all — our de minimis thresholds by country table covers the major destinations.
3. Choose the right form using the current AUD equivalent of 300 SDR.
4. Describe each item specifically, with quantity, net weight, value, HS code and country of origin.
5. Check the line values total the declared total.
6. Add recipient phone and email.
7. Sign and date.
8. Lodge through a channel that transmits the declaration electronically.

If you are sending regularly rather than occasionally, it is worth comparing the postal route against an express courier, which handles the declaration through its own commercial invoice process: our AusPost versus DHL Express comparison sets out where each makes sense, and the international rate table gives you the postal side of the cost.

Figures and thresholds on this page describe the rules rather than fixed dollar amounts, because the SDR conversion and destination-country requirements change. Verify the current values with Australia Post and the destination customs authority before you lodge.