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OUR GOAL
To provide an A-to-Z e-commerce logistics solution that would complete Amazon fulfillment network in the European Union.
The toys, household appliances or electronic gadgets you have in your e-commerce store are selling really well. Well enough, you are thinking about offering them to the European audience - and the easiest way to do it for now would be selling through Amazon FBA program. But the moment you start checking the Amazon and EU requirements for accepting your shipments, it turns out that besides the usual ones, there are also additional rules and standards you must pass - all because your products are coming from Asia.
To protect their market and their customers, European countries implemented dozens of rules for items coming from China, to ensure that only safe and compliant products can enter their country. And that means you, as the seller, needs to put in more effort if you want your shipment from China to enter EU smoothly and be sold on Amazon marketplaces without any issues.
So in this article we'll focus on what standards a product imported from China must pass before being accepted into EU borders and what Amazon expects from you to prepare before they agree to take your goods in, from documents to labels and packaging.
Why shipments from China are under closer scrutiny
When you send inventory to Amazon FBA in Europe, the process isn’t just about getting boxes from your warehouse in Asia or USA to European FBA warehouses. What you're really doing is placing a product on the EU market — with everything that comes with it: safety rules, labelling laws, documentation, traceability, and legal liability.
That’s the core difference between Amazon FBA in the EU and other regions:
FBA shipments here are treated as market entries, not just logistics events and because of that, Amazon must ensure that every incoming shipment can legally enter the EU market. Especially when it’s coming from outside the EU — and especially when it’s manufactured in China.
There are a few reasons for this scrutiny.
1. EU production standards are far stricter than Asian
When a product is made in the EU and shipped within Europe, Amazon assumes the item was manufactured under EU-compliant conditions and subjected to local controls and testing, so the products are safe to use. But when the product comes from China, both custom clearance and Amazon staff need to double-check are the products meeting EU requirements regarding product safety, materials used for developing the product and included documentations, to not let a potentially harmful product on their market.
In practice, this means that products from China must explicitly show that they comply with EU safety and labelling rules through:
- Proper CE marking (proved with a compliant documentation, not just a label on the product boxes)
- Required safety warnings and instructions in EU languages available inside the boxes
- Documentation proving product-specific compliance (e.g. EN 71 for toys, RoHS for electronics)
Any product that doesn't have relevant documentation, for example, proving that the toys are safe for us by children, can be rejected on arrival by the customs, even if the product itself is working and looking fine. In that case, you, as the importer, might be requested to get and show the missing documentations before your products will be accepted by the border officers - and getting those documents from your manufacturer might take you quite some time.
2. Selling non-compliant goods puts legal risk on Amazon
Let's assume that your goods did arrive at the Amazon warehouse despite not meeting some of the compliance requirements.
In the EU, the party that “places a product on the market” is responsible for its legal compliance, including safety, labelling, documentation, and traceability. If you’re importing from China and selling through Amazon FBA, you are that party — regardless of whether you’re based in the EU or not. If Amazon accepted those non-compliant goods though, they may also be seen as helping place those goods on the EU market. In case of a problem with the product, they might be charged then for violations of EU consumer laws or safety regulations.
To avoid this, they’ve built strict inbound checks into their FBA receiving process, where they expect your shipment to look compliant at first glance (e.g. correct labels, visible CE marks, barcodes, clean packaging) and have all necessary documentations included, especially if your products require specific documents or markings by law (like CE, UKCA, WEEE). If there's anything amiss, Amazon can and will reject the shipment until you can prove the products are fully compliant and safe to be sold on their marketplaces.
Product safety requirements: what rules apply to your product category?
Let’s start with the basics: your product has to be legal to sell in the EU. That might sounds obvious, but when you're shipping goods from China (especially for the first time) it's easy to miss what “legal” actually means, especially if you are sending the shipment to the EU for the first time. This is where many first-time EU sellers get caught out. A product can be perfectly fine to sell in Asia or the USA, but be rejected at EU borders because it wasn’t designed or tested to met EU standards in the first place.
For example, an electronic device may still need EMC testing to prove it won’t interfere with other equipment, while a children's toy needs EN 71 testing and age-specific warnings. So the very first thing you need to do before thinking about how will you sell those products to EU customers is asking can the products even enter the EU first:
Which EU directive or regulation applies to this product?
Does the current version of the product meet those requirements?
Has it been tested and documented specifically for the EU market? Do I have the necessary documents to prove it?
Until you can answer those questions, it’s too early to think about shipping them to EU because the shipment is likely to be flagged as non-compliant and rejected. So to help you answer those questions, let's look at how you should examine your product first.
Mandatory labelling: what has to appear on the product and packaging?
First, look at the labels that are on your products. A product might be perfectly compliant on paper, but if the label is incomplete, hard to scan or printed in the wrong language, your package will most likely by stopped and flagged by customs for manual investigation - and then you'll lose both time and money setting things right.
Your packaging must include very specific information — and the required details change depending on the type of product and the country you’re shipping to. To name just a few:
CE mark if your product falls under any directive that requires it
Name and address of the EU-based importer or representative
Clear model or batch number, visible on the product or packaging
Instructions and safety warnings in the official language of each destination country (yes, more than one if you're selling across Europe)
Best to double-check with your chinese supplier do they know what information they need to put on the labels and manuals before the ready products are shipped to you, as otherwise gettting the missing manuals or CE documentation will take far too much of your time.
Technical documentation: what proof of compliance do you need?
Second thing you need to check is do you have the necessary technical documentation to show to the customs when they ask about it. And no, a PDF from your supplier with a CE logo on it, or a one-page document saying that the toys shipped meet all safety requirements will not count for the custom officers.
Depending on your product, you may need:
A signed EU Declaration of Conformity (DoC) that lists all applicable directives and standards
Test reports from an accredited lab (not a local Chinese one unless it’s EU-recognised)
Risk assessments, technical files, or labelling proofs, depending on the category
You’re expected to hold these documents and be ready to show them at any point, either to customs, to Amazon, or to market surveillance authorities. Amazon might not always ask for them upfront but if something triggers a review, and you can’t provide proper documentation, the shipment (or your whole account) can be blocked. So if you can't get those documents from your suppliers or the documents you got do not fit EU guidelines, the safest approach is to either not ship those product at all or you need to organise testing and document prep yourself.
Traceability and importer responsibility: who’s legally responsible for the goods?
After you have confirmed that the product you want to ship to the EU is compliant and properly labelled, there's only one more thing that has to be in place before it can legally be sold in the EU: someone has to take legal responsibility for it.
EU law requires every product placed on the market to name a responsible party located within the EU that can be reached if anything goes wrong (for example, when the electronic toys have to be recalled because of loose parts). This person can be:
You — if you’re importing the goods using your own EORI and operating as the importer of record
Or a formal EU authorised representative (AR) you appoint to take on that role
Whoever you choose, their name and address must appear on the product or its packaging and be clearly visible for the custom staff. If that info’s missing, your shipment can be blocked at the border or flagged as non-compliant by Amazon because if no responsible party is listed, there’s no one to hold accountable for safety, recalls, or legal follow-up. And that’s something the EU and Amazon won’t accept.
Prepare the documents needed for customs clearance
Once your products are compliant and labelled correctly, and you are sure you can legally sell them in Europe, now it's time to fill and attach all needed documents. We know, filling custom documents isn't exactly an enjoyable task, but every shipment coming from outside the EU (including those headed straight to FBA) must go through formal customs clearance at the border. And depending on the clearance results, your shipment might be sent straight to Amazon FBA warehouse after a few hours...or stuck at the border for days because custom officers first need to get missing documents or explanation for discrepancies in the documents.
To avoid this situation, it's best to have the paperwork ready before the goods leave China and arrive at your warehouse, so you would have ample time to confirm that all information inside the documents is correct and that nothing is missing.
The key documents you need to prepare are:
- Commercial invoice with seller and buyer details, full product description (not just model codes) quantity, unit value and total value
Packing list that matches the invoice but also includes physical contents of the shipment, number of cartons, dimensions, and weights and how the products are packed (e.g. mixed SKUs or not)
EORI number
Relevant compliance documents such as Declaration of Conformity (for CE-marked goods) or Test reports (especially for high-risk products) -customs might not ask for those at every clearance, but you need to be prepared to show those to them whenever asked.
We covered all those documents in a separate article, "The logistics documents you need to prepare before entering the EU market", so we won't repeat ourselves here. Instead, we recommend that you read this article before you start filling the documents, especially if this is your first time filling those, as we detailed what information you should include in each document to make it EU-compliant.
How to generate and apply FBA labels correctly
Labelling may sound like the easy part of FBA prep, but it's actually the one stage where new Amazon sellers trip up very often, as Amazon's rules are strict and non-negotiable. Amazon’s inbound system depends entirely on scannable barcodes to receive, identify, and route your products, so if the labels are missing, placed incorrectly or are missing any of the necessary information, the warehouse team can’t process the shipment — and so the shipment might be rejected right at the door, or you might be charged extra for processing the packages.
There are two types of labels you need to add to your Amazon shipments:
1. FNSKU product labels
FNSKU stands for “Fulfilment Network Stock Keeping Unit” and it’s Amazon’s unique barcode that ties a physical product to your seller account in a specific marketplace. Every unit you send to FBA must have one of these labels, unless it qualifies for Amazon’s stickerless inventory program (which most products from China don’t).
Those labels:
Must be applied to each individual sellable unit
Must fully cover any manufacturer barcode (UPC, EAN, etc.)
Must be clearly visible, on a flat surface of the product or its retail packaging
2. Carton labels (box labels)
These are generated once your shipment plan is confirmed in Seller Central. Each outer carton you send must have two identical box labels — one on each of two adjacent sides.
These labels:
Contain Amazon’s shipment ID and box-level content info
Allow the warehouse to scan and register the shipment on arrival
Must match the box content information you submitted during shipment setup
You also need to print and apply them carefully, as a low print resolution or weak ink might get the barcodes blurry and then the Amazon barcode scanners won't be able to process the package. Make sure to cover all manufacturer barcodes as well, so those won't be accidentally scanned (and flagged) by the barcode scanners.
Packaging and shipment preparation for Amazon FBA
At this stage, your products are compliant, labelled, and ready to go. Now comes the physical part: packing them into boxes and pallets that Amazon FBA will actually accept. And yes — Amazon has strict rules for packaging, boxing, and palletizing as well, especially for shipments coming from outside the EU. If something doesn’t meet spec, the shipment might be rejected before it even reaches the inbound dock.
Carton requirements: how to prepare your shipping boxes
Every carton you send to Amazon must meet their standards for size, weight, content, and labelling. These rules are designed to protect the warehouse workflow, not to make your life harder (even if it feels that way).
Key rules to follow:
Maximum box weight:
23 kg (50 lbs) is the general limit
If a box exceeds 15 kg, it must be labelled “Team Lift” on all sides
If it exceeds 23 kg (and is accepted), it must be labelled “Mechanical Lift”
Maximum box dimensions:
Should not exceed 63.5 cm x 50.8 cm x 50.8 cm (25" x 20" x 20")
Larger boxes must be approved by Amazon in advance
Contents:
Ideally, one SKU per box
If mixing SKUs, you must provide box-level content info during shipment setup
No loose units — products must be packaged for sale (polybagged, boxed, etc.)
Labelling:
Every box must have two Amazon carton labels (adjacent sides)
Labels must be scannable, not covered by tape, placed on flat surface
Packaging quality:
Use double-walled cartons if shipping from China
Avoid recycled boxes — crushed cartons are often refused at receiving
Pro tip: Ask your supplier or freight partner to send you photos of finished cartons before shipping as it’s much easier to correct packaging issues in China than once the boxes land in the EU.
Pallet requirements: what to know if you're shipping LTL or full truckload
If your shipment is large enough to require palletization, Amazon also expects very specific standards for how those pallets are built and wrapped.
Standard requirements:
Use 4-way entry Euro pallets (1200 x 800 mm) unless otherwise approved
Max pallet height: 180 cm including the pallet
Max pallet weight: 500–1000 kg (depending on country/FC)
Stack cartons flat and evenly — no overhanging edges
Shrink wrap all pallets securely — wrap tightly and cross corners
Label the pallet with a scannable shipment ID (if requested)
Again, Amazon expects that the boxes or pallets will arrive correctly labelled, sorted exactly like described in the shipment plan and ready to be processed right away. If there's a single thing not meeting those rigid standards (a pallet that fell over and is now damaged, or the labels were placed incorrectly), then you might either be fined for non-compliance or the entire shipment might be rejected, as Amazon's warehouse staff simply doesn't have time to repack the pallets or add the missing stickers.
So before sealing the cartons and handing them over to your forwarder, it's best to double-check:
Are box weights within limits?
Are the right labels applied — and placed correctly?
Does every box match what’s declared in the shipment plan?
If palletized — is the pallet stable, wrapped, and within size limits?
Has someone double-checked against Amazon’s latest FBA inbound rules?
It's always better to spend a few more minutes/hours adjusting or repacking the pallets or boxes while they are still in your warehouse, rather than later spend days trying to deal with a rejected shipment, as Amazon will never adjust or "turn a blind eye" to a shipment that doesn't meet their processing criteria 100%.
When it makes sense to outsource FBA prep — and how we at FLEX. Logistics can help
If you’re at the stage where your products are ready, and you’ve set up your Amazon account, but now you’re staring at a list of EU and FBA requirements you’re not sure how to tackle, we know how it's like as we work with sellers in that exact situation.
The shipment’s almost ready, but there are still questions:
Are the labels applied correctly?
Are the cartons the right size and weight for Amazon?
Who’s going to receive the goods in Europe and make sure they’re prepped properly?
And what if Amazon rejects the shipment — then what?
If the long list of EU custom regulations and FBA rules seems like a lot to handle, especially if you want to sell products imported from Asia country, we'll be happy to lend a hand via our Amazon FBA prep services.
Here’s what do we do as a part of the service:
Receive your shipment in the EU — straight from China or from your freight forwarder.
Check what arrived — are the cartons in good condition, are the labels correct, is everything in line with the shipment plan.
Fix what’s missing or wrong — FNSKU labels, carton labels, “Team Lift” stickers, whatever Amazon expects to see.
Re-pack or consolidate boxes if needed — especially when factories mix SKUs or overpack.
Handle the final leg — we palletize, book the slot, and deliver the goods directly to the FBA warehouse.
As we are an official partner of the Amazon SPN network, we know Amazon requirements and quirks inside-out, so you can rest assured that the shipment will be prepared all according to the guidelines. And to ensure the packages will pass through clearance quickly, we can also help you prepare custom documentations for products coming from Asia.
Reach out to us and tell which of our services might be useful for your e-commerce brand now, and we'll then show how easily shipments from Asia can enter EU borders and Amazon FBA warehouses - because with us, meeting all those custom and Amazon different requirements will be easy.
Having everything prepared in advance makes all the difference
Getting your first FBA shipment from China to the EU can feel overwhelming at first — and we get it. There are several requirements you have to fulfil to enter EU and even more if you want to start selling through Amazon FBA.
But here’s the good news: once you understand what Amazon and EU customs actually expect from you, the process becomes much more manageable. Yes, it will take some preparing upfront - checking what directives apply to your product, confirming your product meets those directives and preparing meticulously everything for Amazon. After a few accepted shipments, preparing goods for Amazon will surely feel much easier.
