In a recent Supply Chain Dive article, Alison Layfield, Vice President of Product Development at ePost Global, met with reporter Max Garland to discuss the U.S. Postal Service’s new requirement for international commercial shipments to include six-digit Harmonized System (HS) codes starting September 1.

Layfield emphasized that accurate product descriptions are critical to assigning the correct HS codes, cautioning that parcels without them risk rejection or inflated duties.

“The lookup tool is only as good as the data that’s fed to it,” she noted. “If you ship it out without that HS code, it’s probably not going to be a good outcome for the consumer.”

She added that shippers who fail to comply could face avoidable delays and costs: “Some Postal Service customers may attempt to ship parcels without an HS code, but it most likely will lead to a rejection from customs officers in the destination country.”

Read the full conversation on Authority Magazine here.