8 mandatory fields for ATLAS: Correctly mapping address data for customs

For electronic customs declarations, the sender's and recipient's names or companies, street address (including house number), postal code, city, country, and telephone numbers are mandatory, along with the EORI number as an identification identifier. In many procedures, the EORI number may make the additional provision of name and address optional, but this requires correct, structured mapping in ATLAS. Automate validation and field mapping before data transmission, as incorrect address data almost always leads to automatic rejections.

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In short:

• For electronic customs declarations, name, street, postal code, city, country and telephone number must always be filled in correctly and unambiguously.
• In many procedures, the EORI number can make the aforementioned address fields optional, provided it is correctly stored in the structured TIN field.
• Errors such as incorrect or outdated country codes, incomplete house numbers, and EORI numbers placed in the wrong field almost always lead to automatic rejections.
• Precise validation and correct mapping of address data in advance significantly minimize the risk of rejection.
• Automated systems offer the possibility of detecting erroneous data early and making customs clearance significantly more efficient.

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Table of Contents

• Mandatory fields and formats for customs declarations in ATLAS
• When is the EORI number sufficient on its own?
• What errors lead to automatic customs rejections?
• How to correctly map shop and ERP fields to ATLAS
• IOSS, Union dispatch and other special cases regarding address information
• Checklist for shipping teams before handover to customs
• Automatic customs clearance with international parcels
• Sources

Mandatory fields and formats for customs declarations in ATLAS

ATLAS does not process free text entries. Every address field has a fixed position, a fixed format, and a clear assignment to sender or recipient. Instructions for completing the online customs declaration lists the expected field names and example values ​​that can be directly adopted for mapping from ERP or shop systems.

These data elements belong in every registration:

• Name or company: Mandatory field, unless the EORI replaces the information in the respective procedure.
• Street and house number: to be recorded separately; a common pitfall is the house number as part of a single address field without separation.
• Postal Code: numeric or alphanumeric depending on the destination country, must match the specified location.
• Location: Required field, no abbreviations or districts without a main town.
• Country: as an ISO country code, not as a full name.
• Phone number: Mandatory field for inquiries from customs authorities, in international format.
• EORI or TIN: structured identification field, never free text.
• Branch number: Additionally required if an economic operator has multiple business locations.

For Germany, optional national fields are added according to the UZK-DA (Union Customs Code - Delegated Administrative Principles), for example, for payment deferral or national supplementary codes. The exact technical field length and encoding are specified in the EDI Implementation Manual, which serves as a binding specification for developers and may differ slightly from the ATLAS screen display.

When is the EORI number sufficient on its own?

The EORI number functions as an identification number under which address data, authorizations, and network connections are recorded. Economic operators within the EU customs territory must include it in their declarations. Once the EORI number is correctly registered, ATLAS automatically links the address data to the operator, which... The additional mention of name and address is optional in many procedures..

Not every market participant necessarily needs their own EORI number. Those who only occasionally handle shipments are often not considered economic operators within the meaning of this regulation. These groups are affected in practice:

• Applicants who submit customs declarations on their own behalf.
• Carriers and freight forwarders who move shipments on behalf of third parties.
• Economic operators with regular customs contact, usually with a double-digit number of declarations per year.
• Foreign companies with multiple business locations that can also apply for a branch number.

The downside: If the EORI is entered in the wrong field, for example in a free text field instead of the structured TIN field, ATLAS often automatically rejects the application. Therefore, never save the EORI as a text fragment in an address line, but always in its own, clearly defined data field. Pro tip: In the data model, create a separate TIN field that is validated separately from the name field. This prevents an EORI from being accidentally interpreted as part of a name.

What errors lead to automatic customs rejections?

The vast majority of rejections are due to a few recurring errors. ATLAS checks structurally, not in terms of content, and a single incorrect character is often enough for a rejection.

These are the most common sources of error in practice:

1. Placeholder texts such as "see invoice" or "tbd" in address fields instead of actual values.
2. Invalid or outdated country codes that do not conform to the current ISO standard.
3. Missing house number because street and number were combined in one field.
4. Telephone numbers without a country code or in a format that the system does not recognize.
5. EORI numbers that appear in the name or address field instead of the TIN field.

A multi-stage validation scheme is recommended for the validation pipeline. First, a mandatory field check catches empty or obviously incomplete values. Next, an EORI lookup against the stored stakeholder number is performed, followed by an ISO country code check and a comparison between postal code and city. Finally, a parser reliably separates the street and house number, even if the source data does not do so.

Every rejected shipment should be logged and returned to the shop or ERP system with a clear error message. An automatic correction suggestion, for example in case of swapped postal code/city combinations, saves the shipping team valuable time. Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) information sheet on customs declarations This point is emphasized: Strict validation before submission prevents delays that would otherwise only be noticed during risk analysis in ATLAS.

How to correctly map shop and ERP fields to ATLAS

A clean data transfer begins with the mapping, not just with the transmission. Anyone who knows the field structure of their own shop can map it directly to the ATLAS data elements without intermediate steps.

Typical mapping patterns look like this:

• shop.company_name This will take you directly to the ATLAS field Name/Company.
• shop.street and shop.house_number are merged or, if necessary, separated from a single field using a parser.
• shop.postal_code and shop.city They run through a matching service before being transferred to the postcode and city fields.
• shop.country It is translated into the ISO country code via a reference table, never adopted as plain text.
• shop.phone is normalized to the international E.164 format, including the country code.

The address formatting itself differs considerably depending on the destination country, a point that should be considered when... Formatting addresses for international shipping labels This becomes particularly relevant. Before production use, every mapping should be run in a sandbox environment. Test there deliberately with incomplete datasets, such as those missing house numbers or with incorrect country codes, to see if your own validation works before ATLAS does. Ongoing monitoring of the rejection rate will then show whether new error patterns emerge, for example, after a shop system update.

IOSS, Union dispatch and other special cases regarding address information

Not every shipment requires the full data set. For shipments of goods up to €150 via the Import One-Stop-Shop A reduced set of mandatory information applies, with the IOSS number directly influencing the jurisdiction of the customs office.

Other special rules that shipping teams should be aware of:

• In the Union transit procedure, the full recipient address remains mandatory, even if other data elements are reduced.
• The shipping document is used in the fallback procedure if electronic transmission is not possible.
• Exceptions such as the Carnet TIR replace the regular transit declaration in certain cases.

These simplifications do not eliminate the need for clean underlying data. Even a reduced dataset must be formally correct; otherwise, the simplification will not take effect.

Checklist for shipping teams before handover to customs

Before each export, a short, standardized run is worthwhile to catch rejections in advance.

1. Are the name/company, street with house number, postal code and city complete for both sender and recipient?
2. Is the EORI number in the structured TIN field, not in free text?
3. Does the postal code match the specified location?
4. Is the country code correctly stored using the ISO code?
5. Is the phone number in international format?

A single incorrect address field is enough for ATLAS to automatically reject the entire registration. If a rejection occurs, first check the system logs. Then, if there are EORI issues, contact participant management directly and resubmit the submission after correction. Define in advance who on the team is responsible for which error category to ensure that follow-up isn't delayed for hours.

Automatic customs clearance with international parcels

An automated shipping platform can take over exactly the steps that are described in this article as sources of error: faulty mapping, incorrectly placed EORI numbers, and incomplete address fields.

A suitable platform connects ERP and shop systems directly to ATLAS via API or plugin, automatically assigns the EORI number to the correct structured field, and checks each shipment against standard validation rules before it reaches customs. A dashboard displays the status of each declaration in real time, ensuring that customs inquiries don't reach the customer. Additionally, the Customs News Ongoing practice updates regarding procedural changes during the Customs Tariff Number Guide which helps with correct product classification, another common stumbling block besides address data maintenance.

Anyone still manually comparing address data between their shop, ERP system, and customs software is wasting time that could be spent in... automated customs clearance This could have been avoided long ago. Check, without obligation, how your existing system can be connected to Paket International's automated customs clearance.

Sources

• Administration.de — Service: EORI Regulations (UCC)
• Chamber of Industry and Commerce — Information sheet on customs declarations
• Customs — Help with completing the online customs declaration (ATLAS) (English translation)

Suggestions

• Formatting international addresses for shipping labels
• Customs tariff number: Guide to import and export
• Confirmation of arrival and uncomplicated customs clearance
• Proforma invoice for customs duties for the export process