← Customs description checker

Check a customs description in PHP

Check customs goods descriptions before you ship. Flags the vague wording EU customs (ICS2) rejects, category-only descriptions, product codes and missing materials. Here is the whole call in PHP, with the output it produced when we ran it.

Before you start

• An API key. Create a free account; it comes with free tokens every month. Put the key in an environment variable so it stays out of your code: export BLOODWEB_KEY=your_key
• PHP 7.4 or later with the curl extension, which most installs have.

The code

Save it as customs-description-check.php and run php customs-description-check.php.

<?php
$ch = curl_init('https://bloodweb.net/api/v1/customs-description-check?' . http_build_query(['descriptions' => 'Gifts']));
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER     => ['Authorization: Bearer ' . getenv('BLOODWEB_KEY')],
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT        => 120,
]);
$body   = curl_exec($ch);
$status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE);
if ($body === false) {
    exit(curl_error($ch) . "\n");
}
if ($status !== 200) {
    exit($status . ': ' . json_decode($body, true)['error']['message'] . "\n");
}
print_r(json_decode($body, true));

What you get

Tested 19 October 2026: this exact code ran against our test copy of the API, which runs the same service code as bloodweb.net, and produced this.

The API answers with JSON, which print_r shows as an array:

{
    "results": [
        {
            "description": "Gifts",
            "level": "bad",
            "issues": [
                "Too vague. \"gifts\" does not say what is in the parcel, and EU customs (ICS2) rejects descriptions like this."
            ],
            "tips": [
                "\"Gift\" is a reason for sending, not a description, and goods a customer paid for are not gifts."
            ],
            "cut": null,
            "length": 5
        }
    ],
    "summary": {
        "good": 0,
        "warn": 0,
        "bad": 1
    }
}

Change the call

Every option the Customs description checker takes. Add or change them the same way as the ones in the code.

• descriptions required: One description per line, or a JSON array. Up to 50.
• max_length: Flag descriptions longer than this many characters and show where they would be cut.

If it fails

A failed call is not charged. The answer is JSON with an error object; the code above prints its message. The usual ones:

• 401 missing_key or invalid_key: BLOODWEB_KEY is not set in the shell that runs the code, or the key was revoked.
• 400 bad_param: a value is wrong or missing. The message names the parameter.
• 402 insufficient_tokens: the balance does not cover the call. Top up in the dashboard.
• 429 rate_limited: too many calls at once. Wait the seconds in the Retry-After header and send it again.

Every code and its fix is in the docs.

Next

• The Customs description checker page: every option, the limits, and Try it now in your browser.
• Getting started: keys, errors and rate limits for all the services.