Manage Swiss customs classifications

Customs classification is essential for selling your articles on Zalando in Switzerland. It's how we assign regulatory data to your articles to manage cross-border shipping. Without this data, we cannot make your assortment available to customers.

We classify articles automatically for partners who use Zalando Fulfilment Solutions (ZFS). Our teams assign customs tariff numbers based on your articles' characteristics. These numbers help us determine import duties, check import/export restrictions and confirm required shipping documents.

Make sure you have:

• Admin or manager user permissions for your company zDirect profile.

• Access to your manufacturing records to check material compositions.

You can add the country of origin (CoO) attribute directly during your initial article onboarding. This works across all integration channels. This means you don't need to submit this data separately to Partner Care later.

If your articles fail the Swiss customs check, specific status codes will appear in your Article listing. As part of our new framework, we have transitioned from generic, grouped status codes (formerly ZABLO_10 and ZABLO_24) to more targeted, actionable blockers. Check the status codes below to find your unblocking steps.

Our warehouses weigh your articles to provide volume information. This information is needed for customs documentation. We keep your articles blocked until we add the volume details.

You don't need to take action. We prioritise weighing articles that have available stock. Check your Article listing to track when the status updates.

Your articles lack the country of origin attribute. Articles without this data cannot clear customs. 

To unblock your articles, download and complete an attached template with the relevant information, then submit it to our Partner Care team through the support form. Select the topic: Article onboarding, and choose the request type: ZA.

Your articles lack the customs tariff number. Our Customs classification team assigns these numbers, but they require the country of origin first. Make sure you provide the country of origin. 

If the article remains blocked, contact our Partner Care team through the support form. Select the topic: Article onboarding, and choose the request type: ZA.

Our customs systems will only process your articles if you complete these mandatory fields correctly:

• Zalando article variant (mandatory): Enter the unique 13-character SKU, also known as config SKU.

• Country of origin (mandatory): Enter the official two-letter ISO alpha 2 country code (e.g. RO for Romania). Ensure your country code is accurate. For example, RU (Russia) instead of RO (Romania) will flag your article and can trigger customs rejections.

Depending on your contractual agreement, you may also need to provide:

• EU customs tariff number (CTN)

• EU customs tariff description in German

• Swiss customs tariff number

• Swiss customs tariff description

If you change your articles (e.g. material composition, EAN or variant size ID), flag the specific articles in your template and add a short description of the change in column E of the attached template.

If your articles remain blocked after you submit these attributes, check your Article listing page for other onboarding issues. If you need help, reach out to our Partner Care team through the support form. Select the topic: Article onboarding, and choose the request type: ZA.