Overview
This guide covers shelf-stable processed food shipped without refrigeration: packaged snacks, ready-to-eat foods, canned items, instant mixes, bakery products and preserved foods. Frozen, chilled and hazardous items are not covered. These goods are moisture-sensitive, depend on their packaging and must be handled hygienically. To keep them sellable, protect them from humidity, crushing, odors and heat, keep temperatures stable, and make sure your documents match your labels.
Product Types Covered
All of these depend on strong packaging and moisture control.
Packaged Snacks & Dry Foods
Chips, namkeens (savory Indian snacks), biscuits, crackers, popcorn and puffed snacks
Instant & Ready-to-Cook Mixes
Instant noodles, gravy and spice mixes, and breakfast cereals
Canned & Preserved Foods
Canned vegetables, jams and spreads, and condiments and sauces
Baked & Confectionery Products
Dry cakes, rusks, ambient-stable chocolates, sweets and dry confectionery
Shipping processed food products?
Get a quoteFive Transit Risks and How to Prevent Them
Most claims on processed food come from moisture damage, crushing and packaging failure. Here is how to prevent those, plus odor, heat and labeling problems.
Humidity makes dry and processed foods lose crispness, clump or deteriorate.
- Pack in laminated, foil-lined or moisture-barrier pouches
- Keep cartons away from container walls
- Add desiccants on humid sea routes
- Don't load in the rain
Processed foods often come in thin, lightweight packaging that crushes easily.
- Use rigid outer cartons
- Don't stack heavy items on top
- Keep products upright
- Fill empty space in cartons so they don't collapse
Food packaging absorbs odors from strong-smelling cargo, which affects taste and aroma.
- Don't co-load with chemicals, rubber, spices or cleaning agents
- Use clean, odor-free containers
- Seal cartons properly
Heat damages chocolates, confectionery and oil-based snacks.
- Load during cooler hours
- Keep containers out of direct sunlight
- Keep cartons away from the container's metal walls
Exported food must carry clear labels for customs and inspection.
- Show the batch number, manufacture date and expiry date
- Make sure the print is clear and doesn't smudge
- Match your documents to the label details
Required Documents
Your labels and documents must be accurate and say the same thing.
| Document | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Commercial Invoice & Packing List | Lists the food type, pack size and HS code |
| Certificate of Origin | Confirms where the food was produced or processed; required for duty programs and food regulations |
| Phytosanitary certificate (for plant-based ingredients) | Needed for certain cereal- or plant-based items |
| Health certificate (if the destination requires it) | Confirms product safety and hygiene standards |
| Ingredient & allergen declaration | Supports customs classification and food safety checks |
What Each Destination Checks
Food cargo may be sampled and inspected on arrival.
- Certificate of origin (COO) required
- Ingredient list is sometimes reviewed
- Some additives may need clarification
- Certificate of origin required
- Additive restrictions and labeling rules apply
- Certificate of origin mandatory
- Expiry dates and packaging condition are inspected
Choosing FCL, LCL or Air
Choose the mode that keeps cartons stable and dry; that protects both the packaging and the food.
| Mode | Best For | |
|---|---|---|
| FCL (full container) | Full loads of retail cartons | - |
| Palletized LCL (shared container) | Mixed food consignments | - |
| Air | Urgent, lightweight consumer packs | - |
Shipping processed food products?
Get a quoteHS Codes for Processed Food (Examples)
| HS Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 1904 | Prepared cereal foods and mixes |
| 2007 | Jams and fruit spreads |
| 2008 | Preserved foods (nuts, fruits, vegetables) |
| 2106 | Food preparations not elsewhere specified (NES) |
| 1905 | Bakery products |
These codes are indicative starting points, not a classification. Find the exact 10-digit line for your product in the HTS Code Finder. Getting the classification right is the importer of record’s legal responsibility.
Final classification depends on the ingredients and how the product is processed. Estimate US import duties for these codes with our free tariff simulator.
Processed Food Shipping FAQs
Only if they ship on wooden pallets or in crates that must meet ISPM-15, the international standard for treating wood packaging.
Most don't; they're ambient-stable. Keep heat-sensitive items out of high temperatures.
It's not recommended. Odors transfer to the food and affect its taste and quality.
Moisture damage, crushing and packaging failure.
Shipping terms in this guide:Commercial InvoicePacking ListHarmonized System Code (HS Code)Certificate of Origin (COO)Phytosanitary CertificateFull Container Load (FCL)
U.S. import duty on Processed Food Products by country of origin
Total duty on the highest-value tariff lines in this category, by country of origin, calculated with our tariff engine and U.S. Census import values. Each page breaks down the duty components, how the rate has changed by entry date, and the landed-cost math.
- Canned prepared beef from Brazil
- Frozen prepared shrimps and prawns from India
- Canned tuna and skipjack from Thailand
- Coconut water from Thailand
- Food preparations from China
- Frozen breaded shrimps and prawns from Vietnam
- Coconut water from Vietnam
- Apple juice from China
- Prepared or preserved vegetables from China
- Sugar confectionery from China
- Food preparations from India
- Frozen bakery products from India
- Canned satsuma mandarins from China
- Canned satsuma mandarins from China
- Canned swimming crab meat from India
- Pickled cucumbers and gherkins from India
1 more in this group. Rates are our tariff engine's total for a commercial entry today. Open a page for the duty lines behind a rate and how it changed by entry date, browse all import duty pages, or price your own shipment.
Need guidance for processed food shipments?
We can help with moisture control, packaging checks, pallet stability planning and clear, consistent documents for processed food.
Get a quote to ship processed food products
Tell us the product, where it ships from and to, and the container size or weight. We reply with the freight rate, the destination charges and the services included. The guide you were reading is already in the notes.