UPS Paperless Invoice service goes international
UPS announced it was extending to air freight customers the same capability now enjoyed by small package shippers to electronically clear customs in more than 90 countries.
“Our expanded services enable more of our customers to streamline and expedite the customs process while cutting costs and saving time,” the company said in a statement.
The extension of the UPS Paperless Invoice service to international air freight shipments saves time, money and trees. The free-of-charge solution enables customers to increase efficiency by integrating order processing, shipment preparation and commercial invoice data. It then transmits that data in advance of the shipment to customs offices across the globe, eliminating the problems that accompany paper documentation.
Because information is stored electronically, customers greatly reduce their chance of making manual errors filling out customs documentation. The tech-enabled service also eliminates the possibility of submitting incomplete paperwork, the main cause of delay for international deliveries.
The new capability to electronically process air freight shipments currently is available through UPS Internet Shipping and UPS CampusShip software. It will be available through UPS WorldShip in January.
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In a second international technology enhancement, UPS added 25 new origin countries to its UPS WorldShip shipping software. The availability of this technology option means customers can generate labels and prepare packages for shipping without resorting to pen and paper.
Greatly reducing the chance for manual errors, UPS WorldShip software now can be used for small package and air freight shipments in 63 countries. The newest origins for this service include Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Guam, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.
WorldShip can be installed in any of 20 languages.
UPS was the first carrier in the industry to offer electronic customs clearance for small package shippers, rolling out the service in January 2008. Since then, working closely with customs officers around the world, UPS has increased to more than 90 the number of destination countries that will accept electronic customs data and to more than 70 the number of origin countries in which international export packages can be processed electronically.
No other carrier offers a digital customs clearance option in so many countries for small package and heavy freight shipping.
Since UPS Paperless Invoice became available to UPS small package customers in 2008, the service has helped save almost 250 million sheets of paper or the equivalent of 21,650 trees. With the expansion of the service to air freight customers, UPS anticipates those numbers will grow considerably.
“We are committed to making international shipping as simple as possible for our customers around the world,” Scott Aubuchon, director of international air freight marketing for UPS said. “Our expanded services enable more of our customers to streamline and expedite the customs process while cutting costs and saving time.”
UPS Paperless Invoice and UPS WorldShip are ideal for industrial manufacturing and distribution industries as well as retail, consumer goods, professional services, high-tech companies and other companies that deal with overseas movements on a regular basis. The new enhancements also make it possible for UPS Paperless Invoice customers to submit an electronic NAFTA Certificate of Origin for packages moving between the U.S. and Canada, reducing or eliminating duties for NAFTA eligible goods.
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Edited by Kevin Scarpati
