U.S. import requirements now reach further into product-level data than they used to. Steel and aluminum items need a declared metal origin, government agency review is expanding into postal shipments, and postal shipments under $2,500 USD are now eligible for free trade agreements when the supporting documentation travels with them. You can add that documentation now, but the reduced rates may not apply right away: applying them is coming soon, as soon as the systems are ready.
Your Verified Account is where that information lives. You sync or upload your product catalog once, Zonos checks each product against U.S. entry requirements and tells you which ones need more information, and you fill in the gaps. This is ongoing work rather than a one-time task—each new product you add gets checked the same way.
Your Canada Post shipments are already tied to your account. Zonos matches each shipment to the products in your Catalog, through your synced orders if you connect your store, or by exact product name if you upload a CSV or use the Catalog API. Once a product has its details, they are applied to every parcel that contains it.
If you have not set up your account yet, start with Account setup.
Get your products into Zonos
Your Catalog is where the extra U.S. information for each product lives, so you provide it once rather than per shipment. There are three ways to build it:
Connect your store with Zonos Sync, and your products and orders sync automatically, keeping your Catalog current as your store changes. Etsy, eBay, Shopify, WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce (Magento), Wix, Amazon, and BigCommerce are ready. See channel integrations for how each one connects.
To connect a store, go to Dashboard → Catalog, click Add channel, and select your platform. If your platform isn't listed yet, upload a CSV or use the Catalog API instead.
Zonos Sync also brings in your orders along with their tracking numbers, so Zonos can match each Canada Post shipment to its order, and the products in it. You don't need to change how you describe products on your labels.
See which products need attention
Zonos checks every product in your Catalog and flags the ones that need attention, with the reason attached—melt and pour data for a steel water bottle, FDA details for a lip gloss. Anything without a flag is good to go.
The checks cover both sides of U.S. entry:
The agencies that control what is allowed in, such as the FDA and CPSC
The tariff programs that decide what you pay, such as Section 232
To review your flagged products:
Go to Dashboard → Catalog.
Select the Needs attention tab to see only the products that are missing information.
Open a product to see what is being asked for and why.
Zonos Clarify tells you what each flagged product is actually required to provide. Working that out yourself is possible, but slow—the requirements sit with different agencies and differ product by product. Clarify does it for you, whether the item is a set of wooden alphabet blocks or a lip gloss, and puts the questions in front of you.
It also infers the likely answers from the product information you already have, so you can move through a lot of products quickly: review what Zonos proposes, correct anything that needs it, and submit.
Each answer is saved to the product and reused, so you are not asked the same question twice.
Upload supporting documents
Some requirements are satisfied by paperwork rather than an answer. You can upload:
Certificates of origin
Metal origin records for Section 232 — melt and pour for steel, smelt and cast for aluminum
Trade agreement documentation — the supporting documents that let a free trade agreement reduce the duty on a shipment. You can upload these now; applying trade agreement rates is
Coming soon
Upload a document once and link it to every product it covers. See supporting documents for which documents apply and how they are stored.
CSV or API options only: Use the product name from Catalog in Canada Post systems every time you ship to the U.S.
If you built your Catalog by uploading a CSV or through the Catalog API, Zonos connects each item on your Canada Post shipment to your Catalog by its product name. Every time you print a Canada Post label for a U.S. shipment, enter the product description exactly as the product name appears in your Zonos Catalog: the same words, in the same order, with the same spacing and punctuation. Capitalization doesn't matter. Details like size or color are fine, as long as they appear in the Catalog name the same way. A description with the same words in a different order won't match.
In Snap Ship, enter it in the Item description field, under Package contents.
For example, if your Catalog lists Womens cotton dress, blue:
Product description in Canada Post↕
Matches?↕
Womens cotton dress, blue
Yes
Womens blue cotton dress
No, the words are in a different order and the comma is missing
Womens cotton dress
No, the color is missing
Womens cotton dress, blue, M
No, a size was added that isn't in the Catalog name
womens cotton dress, blue
Yes, capitalization doesn't matter
Each product name in your Catalog also has to be unique, so no two products share the same name. Otherwise, Zonos can't tell which product an item on your shipment is.
If you connected your store with Zonos Sync instead, you can skip this step. Zonos Sync brings in your orders along with their tracking numbers, so Zonos matches each shipment to its order, and the products in it, by tracking number.
When Zonos emails you about a missing detail
Coming soon
You do not have to keep your Catalog perfect on your own. Zonos checks each U.S.-bound shipment against what you have already provided. If something is missing, you get an email with a link to the one question that needs answering.
Your answer is saved to the product, so it is not asked again.
Add required product data
Add required product data
U.S. import requirements now reach further into product-level data than they used to. Steel and aluminum items need a declared metal origin, government agency review is expanding into postal shipments, and postal shipments under $2,500 USD are now eligible for free trade agreements when the supporting documentation travels with them. You can add that documentation now, but the reduced rates may not apply right away: applying them is coming soon, as soon as the systems are ready.
Your Verified Account is where that information lives. You sync or upload your product catalog once, Zonos checks each product against U.S. entry requirements and tells you which ones need more information, and you fill in the gaps. This is ongoing work rather than a one-time task—each new product you add gets checked the same way.
Your Canada Post shipments are already tied to your account. Zonos matches each shipment to the products in your Catalog, through your synced orders if you connect your store, or by exact product name if you upload a CSV or use the Catalog API. Once a product has its details, they are applied to every parcel that contains it.
If you have not set up your account yet, start with Account setup.
Get your products into Zonos
Your Catalog is where the extra U.S. information for each product lives, so you provide it once rather than per shipment. There are three ways to build it:
Connect your store with Zonos Sync, and your products and orders sync automatically, keeping your Catalog current as your store changes. Etsy, eBay, Shopify, WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce (Magento), Wix, Amazon, and BigCommerce are ready. See channel integrations for how each one connects.
To connect a store, go to Dashboard → Catalog, click Add channel, and select your platform. If your platform isn't listed yet, upload a CSV or use the Catalog API instead.
Zonos Sync also brings in your orders along with their tracking numbers, so Zonos can match each Canada Post shipment to its order, and the products in it. You don't need to change how you describe products on your labels.
See which products need attention
Zonos checks every product in your Catalog and flags the ones that need attention, with the reason attached—melt and pour data for a steel water bottle, FDA details for a lip gloss. Anything without a flag is good to go.
The checks cover both sides of U.S. entry:
To review your flagged products:
See what Zonos checks for for the agencies and programs behind the flags.
Answer the product-specific questions
Zonos Clarify tells you what each flagged product is actually required to provide. Working that out yourself is possible, but slow—the requirements sit with different agencies and differ product by product. Clarify does it for you, whether the item is a set of wooden alphabet blocks or a lip gloss, and puts the questions in front of you.
It also infers the likely answers from the product information you already have, so you can move through a lot of products quickly: review what Zonos proposes, correct anything that needs it, and submit.
Each answer is saved to the product and reused, so you are not asked the same question twice.
Upload supporting documents
Some requirements are satisfied by paperwork rather than an answer. You can upload:
Coming soon
Upload a document once and link it to every product it covers. See supporting documents for which documents apply and how they are stored.
CSV or API options only: Use the product name from Catalog in Canada Post systems every time you ship to the U.S.
If you built your Catalog by uploading a CSV or through the Catalog API, Zonos connects each item on your Canada Post shipment to your Catalog by its product name. Every time you print a Canada Post label for a U.S. shipment, enter the product description exactly as the product name appears in your Zonos Catalog: the same words, in the same order, with the same spacing and punctuation. Capitalization doesn't matter. Details like size or color are fine, as long as they appear in the Catalog name the same way. A description with the same words in a different order won't match.
In Snap Ship, enter it in the Item description field, under Package contents.
For example, if your Catalog lists
Womens cotton dress, blue:Womens cotton dress, blueWomens blue cotton dressWomens cotton dressWomens cotton dress, blue, Mwomens cotton dress, blueEach product name in your Catalog also has to be unique, so no two products share the same name. Otherwise, Zonos can't tell which product an item on your shipment is.
If you connected your store with Zonos Sync instead, you can skip this step. Zonos Sync brings in your orders along with their tracking numbers, so Zonos matches each shipment to its order, and the products in it, by tracking number.
When Zonos emails you about a missing detail
Coming soon
You do not have to keep your Catalog perfect on your own. Zonos checks each U.S.-bound shipment against what you have already provided. If something is missing, you get an email with a link to the one question that needs answering.
Your answer is saved to the product, so it is not asked again.
Next steps
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