There are many different documents that you might need to attach to your orders. If you are sending goods overseas, customs authorities can ask you to produce different documents depending on the country of export and import, and the nature of the goods.
This article discusses how to use the rules engine to upload documents and create rules for how to attach them to different orders.
For a description of the different kinds of documentation you might need for international shipping, see the international documentation article.
For an overview of how the rules engine works, see the rules engine article.
Create a document attachment rule
Before you start creating rules, make sure you have activated the rules engine in your Shippit account. For more information, see the creating rules article.
Commercial invoices are usually produced automatically in your Shippit account, and attached to an order by default. In most cases, you do not need to manually attach them with a document rule. However, if you are producing your commercial invoices with a third party integration, such as Shopify, you might prefer to attach them using a document rule instead.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: You can usually send commercial invoices and dangerous goods declarations electronically, directly from your Shippit account. However, some customs authorities and air carriers require original paper copies of documents. It is important to check with the relevant authorities before you ship, so you know what they require, and can avoid any delays.
Creating a document attachment rule
Log in to your Shippit account, and navigate to Settings → Company Rules → Document Attachment. For store rules, navigate to Settings → Store Rules → Document Attachment.
Click Create new rule.
For company rules, select which stores the rule applies to, or select all stores.
Give your rule a name. For example, Certificate of origin.
Create the conditions for your rule, for example:
In the When this happens field, select Delivery country.
In the Is field, select Not any one of.
In the Enter value field, type Australia.
To add additional conditions, click Add another condition. You need to select if the second condition applies instead of the previous condition, or as well as the previous one. For more information, see the creating rules article.
Select the type of document you are attaching and click Attach to upload the document from your local file system. Uploaded files are shown with the their filename, click the x to remove files you have uploaded.
Click Save to save your rule and return to the rules screen.
Activate your rule by clicking the rule toggle to the on position. You can delete rules by clicking the trash icon.
Accepted documents
You can upload any of these file types, up to a maximum file size of 5MB:
File type | Extension |
Comma separated values |
|
Image files |
|
Portable document format |
|
The different documents you can upload are:
Name | Description |
Certificate of origin | Certifies the country where the goods were produced. |
Commercial invoice | Information about the transaction between buyer and seller. |
Customs documents | Use this option for customs documents that don't fit in another category. |
Drop ball test report | Certifies that a package can withstand being dropped from a certain height. |
FDA license | Provided by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States for regulated products like food, drugs, and medical devices. |
Health permit | Certifies that food or agricultural products meet health and safety standards. |
Import permit | Granted by the country you are exporting goods to, allowing specific goods to enter. |
Material data safety sheet (MSDS) | Provides information about the chemical and physical properties and potential hazards of chemical substances. |
Survey report | Independent assessment of the condition or quantity of goods. |
For more information about the different types of customs documents, see the international documentation article.
Troubleshooting
This section contains information about some common issues you might encounter with international documentation rules. If you can't find an answer to your question here, get in touch with us using the chat in your Shippit account, or reach out to Shippit support.
Which carriers support electronic document submission (paperless trade)
In June 2025, only DHL Express and Fedex International carriers support paperless trade and can receive document attachments from your Shippit account. If you are shipping with one of these carriers, you do not need to print a hard copy of your documents. It is important to check with the relevant authorities before you ship, so you know what they require, and can avoid any delays.
I can't see the attachment against the order in the New Orders page
Document attachment rules apply when you confirm an order. This allows you to finalise any order and product details before attaching the documents. This means that you can't see any attached documents to an order on the New Orders page.
To see the documents that are being attached with rules, navigate to Settings → Company Rules or Store Rules → Document Attachment and click the filename to download.
I want to manually attach a document to a single order
This is not currently supported.