📦 Shipping to South Korea: costs, times and pallet shipments

📄 Documents and customs for shipping to South Korea

South Korea is non-EU: every shipment must pass through the Korea Customs Service. The good news is that Korean customs is among the most efficient and digitised in Asia: with the correct documentation, customs clearance is generally quick. The following are required:

• commercial invoice or proforma
• detailed description of the goods in English (NO “gift”)
• free export declaration
• possible EORI for corporate shipments
• sender's identity document (required by some couriers)

EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement

From 2011 A free trade agreement between the European Union and South Korea is in force that has reduced or eliminated duties on most European products. To take advantage of this, simply add a declaration of origin on the commercial invoice, stating that the goods are of Italian/European origin. This can zero or significantly reduce customs costs for the recipient.

De minimis threshold

Shipments with a declared value of less than 150,000 KRW (approx. 100 €) are generally exempt from customs duties. Above this threshold, variable duties per product category plus the Korean VAT of 10%.

For the customs code of your goods, see our guide: 📋 What is the TARIC code and how to find it

💡 Shipping TipsComfortable: In order to ship to South Korea without delays, please ensure that documents and description of contents are complete and accurate. Always indicate: product type, quantity, actual value and country of origin. This helps customs clearance and speeds up delivery 🚀.

🚫 Avoid generic descriptions such as:

• “gift”
• “clothes”
• “personal items”

✅ Instead, use detailed descriptions, for example:

• “Men's cotton T-shirt - 3 pieces - value €45 - made in Italy”.”
• “Leather shoes - 1 pair - value €120 - made in Italy”.”
• “Artisanal semolina pasta - 2 kg - value 20€ - packaged food product”.”
• “Paper documents without commercial value”

⚠️ Vague descriptions slow down customs clearance and may cause additional costs for the recipient.

What you can and cannot ship to South Korea

🚫 Banned or severely restricted products:

• Narcotics and psychotropic substances
• Firearms, ammunition and explosives
• Copyright and trademark infringing material (Korea applies strict controls)
• Meat and animal products without health certification (MFDS)
• Fresh plants and plant products without phytosanitary certification
• Prescription drugs without medical documentation

🍷 Wine and spirits: permitted for personal use within the permitted thresholds. A specific import licence is required for commercial shipments.

🍝 Packaged foods: Pasta, oil, biscuits, canned and industrially packaged products are generally allowed in small quantities for personal use. Products with Korean or English language labelling pass customs more easily.