The UPU has released its first-ever delivered duty paid (DDP) solution – improving customs compliance and leading to better service for e-commerce customers. Working with the wider postal sector has been key to developing the solution and will be essential to its expansion.
At the beginning of October, the UPU launched its fully-fledged DDP solution allowing users to calculate and collect required duties at origin and remit them at destination. The release came at a critical time – just weeks after the United States suspended duty-free de minimis exemption, which brought inbound volumes to a near standstill as posts and their transport partners lacked a means to guarantee duty payments upon arrival.The UPU’s DDP solution is fully integrated into its Customs Declarations System (CDS), a customer-facing customs compliance software already used by 176 postal operators. The solution enables postal customers, particularly e-sellers and shippers, to enter the appropriate customs declarations through CDS and then settle the applicable duties or taxes.
Two postal operators already have the solution up and running, while a dozen more are already in various stages of implementation.
“I am confident that list will grow fast,” says David Avsec, Account Relations and Product Management Coordinator with the UPU’s Postal Technology Centre, who adds that other countries have also signalled their intent to drop de minimis exemptions. Regardless of regulation, Avsec emphasizes that DDP will be essential for the future of e-commerce, as customers expect total cost transparency at the time of purchase.
Pioneering partnership
The ability to determine and remit duties has relied on third-party application programming interfaces (APIs) that enrich CDS data to calculate landed costs. The first provider to be plugged in is Zonos, which has been working with the UPU for nearly a year.
Zonos Founder and CEO Clint Reid explains that the partnership was a “natural fit”, with the company having already spent a decade developing its technology enabling merchants and logistics providers to collect duties, taxes, and fees upfront.
“We didn’t just bring technology – we brought years of experience solving these challenges in real-world cross-border environments. That foundation has allowed us to work alongside the UPU to develop a solution that truly meets the needs of postal operators and the merchants they serve,” says Reid.
Zonos also happens to be one of the companies approved by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to remit duties, known as a ‘qualified party’. This enabled the UPU and Zonos to accelerate their work to first develop a U.S.-specific solution.
Expanding choice and reach
Following the successful model developed with Zonos, the UPU is now looking to connect more partners to the platform, giving operators a choice of providers while guaranteeing compliance.
“When everything is under the CDS license then posts don’t have to worry about striking their own agreements, which can be a lengthy process,” says Avsec.
Any providers looking to plug into the UPU DDP solution must achieve the organization’s UPU-TechCert certification, which validates the interoperability of the technology with UPU systems and ensures its compliance to UPU standards.
Potential partners must demonstrate their ability to provide APIs for landed cost calculation, APIs that enable data sharing between the UPU and customs authorities, APIs that enable data sharing between customers, the third party and the UPU, and APIs that facilitate the creation of necessary barcodes and mail item numbers. Once these criteria are met, they can strike an agreement with the UPU to have their solution included in CDS.
Several companies are already in the process of connecting to become UPU DDP partners, including BoxC, Hurricane (with a partner qualified party), iCustoms (with JamesCB as a qualified party), MyDutyCollect and SafePackage.
Avsec says the UPU anticipates it will be able to offer options for qualified parties on the platform towards the end of 2025.
This article first appeared in Union Postale Autumn 2025.