As of 1 Nov, PIDs are required when shipping into the EU:
The three PIDs you need to provide
1. Merchant PID (M-PID) - always required
Assigned by the online seller, marketplace, or platform. It has to uniquely identify the product across that platform, no matter how many sellers offer it.
In practice, this is the platform SKU or listing ID you already use on your storefront. Your Shopify product ID or internal catalog reference covers it.
2. Non-Standardized Manufacturer PID (NS-PID) - always required
Assigned by the manufacturer, producer, or supplier. It does not rely on any international standard. If no NS-PID exists yet, the manufacturer is expected to create one. There's no required structure.
In practice, this is the manufacturer's internal model number, style code, or production reference, something like "MX-2024-BLK-L" for a black jacket in size L. If your supplier has never assigned one, they need to. The format is flexible.
3. Standardized Manufacturer PID (S-PID) - required where it exists, with a mandatory exception code where it doesn't
This one relies on internationally recognized standards. In Europe, that usually means the EAN (European Article Number) for most products and the ISBN for books.
In practice, this is the EAN barcode printed on the product or its packaging, the 13-digit number under the barcode. For books, the ISBN. If a product genuinely has no standardized barcode (which is rare for mainstream consumer goods) you have to explicitly declare that none exists. Silence will not clear customs.
The European Commission's official guidance document (PDF) walks through edge cases for each identifier type if you need to check a specific product category.
Shipstation doesn’t have a way to add EANs to Customs forms. A workaround is to add EAN to SKU line, but this would be for reference only and unlikely to be picked up by Customs.
Has anyone worked out how to do this yet?
