When you start shipping documents, a suitcase or a balikbayan box abroad, you run into a vocabulary of its own that nobody explained to you. People talk about "exemption", "AWB", "apostille", "courier", and assume you already know it. If your shipment is going to the Philippines, on top of that you get English acronyms (BOC, DFA, PSA) mixed with words only understood within the Filipino community (balikbayan, pasalubong, pasabuy). The result: half-made decisions because you never quite understand what you are being told.
This glossary lays out, from A to Z, the terms that genuinely come up when you ship something out of Spain, with a focus on the star corridor, Spain-Philippines. Each entry is a short, practical definition. You do not need to read it all the way through: use it as a dictionary, look up the term that grates on you and carry on with what you were doing.
International shipping terms, from A to Z
Apostille (Hague Apostille)
An official stamp that certifies the authenticity of a public document (notarial, registry, judicial or academic) so it is valid in another country. The Philippines has been part of the Hague Convention since 2019, so an apostilled Spanish document is accepted there without going through the consulate. If you need to send powers of attorney or certificates to the Philippines, first check which documents need an apostille and in what order.
AWB (Air Waybill)
The "air consignment note": the document that accompanies a shipment traveling by plane. It works as a transport contract and as a receipt, and includes a tracking number used to trace the parcel. When you are given a tracking code for an air shipment, it is usually linked to an AWB.
Balikbayan
A Filipino word that literally means "return to the country" (from balik, to return, and bayan, country or town). It is used to refer to a Filipino person who returns or who lives abroad and keeps their bond with the Philippines. That is where the better-known term comes from: the balikbayan box.
Balikbayan box
The box par excellence for sending personal goods to relatives in the Philippines: clothing, food, gifts, everyday products. It has special customs treatment in the Philippines and a clear recipient (family, not for sale). To find out what can and cannot go in, check the list of what can go in a balikbayan box. From Europe, it is usually sent by air, with an honest timeline of 7 to 15 days.
BI (Bureau of Immigration)
The Philippine immigration office. It is the body that handles visas, residence permits and the immigration status of foreigners in the country. When someone processes a visa to live in the Philippines, the BI is the one that requests and reviews the documentation.
BOC (Bureau of Customs)
Philippine customs. It is the body that controls everything entering the country, applies customs regulations and decides whether a shipment passes free, pays taxes or is held for inspection. Understanding how the BOC works avoids most of the nasty surprises: we explain it in depth in the guide to Philippine customs for personal shipments.
Cargo
Goods transported professionally. For shipments to the Philippines a nuance helps: "cargo" is associated with sea transport and large volumes, but a balikbayan box from Europe travels by air. That is why it is more accurate to speak of an air shipment or an air balikbayan box than of "cargo" plain and simple when the origin is Spain.
CMTA (Customs Modernization and Tariff Act)
The Philippine customs law, passed in 2016. It is the legal framework that regulates how shipments enter the country, what is exempt, what is taxed and under what conditions. When the tax treatment of a balikbayan box is discussed, the legal basis is the CMTA.
Cut-off
The deadline for a shipment to make the day's departure. At our office at Carrer de Pelai 9, the cut-off is at 18:00: what arrives before then can leave that same day; what arrives after goes into the next dispatch. Knowing the cut-off is key when a shipment is urgent.
DDP and DDU (Delivered Duty Paid / Unpaid)
Two ways of splitting who pays the customs taxes at destination. Under DDP, the duties and taxes are included and the recipient pays nothing on receipt. Under DDU, the recipient pays those taxes when the parcel is delivered. Knowing which arrangement your shipment travels under avoids surprises at delivery.
DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs)
The Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among other functions, it handles Philippine passports and consular procedures. It is the Philippine counterpart when a foreign document has to fit into an official procedure in the country.
Dual citizenship
An arrangement that allows a person of Filipino origin to recover or keep Filipino nationality alongside another. It is common in Filipino families settled in Spain and in their children. Processing it usually involves sending apostilled and, depending on the case, translated certificates to the Philippines.
Exemption (de minimis and balikbayan box)
The allowance or amount free of tax at Philippine customs. The regulations provide for special treatment of the balikbayan box, subject to a value limit and conditions (personal use, family recipient, frequency). Below the threshold and meeting the requirements, the shipment is not taxed; above it, the part that exceeds the limit may pay tax. The up-to-date detail is in the guide to Philippine customs.
Courier
A company or service that transports documents and parcels quickly and with tracking, usually door to door. Unlike ordinary mail, a courier offers tracking, defined timelines and support when something gets complicated. Acacia Cargo operates as a courier specialized in the Spain-Philippines corridor, as well as Spain-United States and Spain-United Kingdom.
HS Code (tariff code)
An international numeric code that classifies each type of goods. Customs use it to know which regulations and taxes apply. In personal shipments you will rarely have to state it yourself, but it appears in the customs documentation of commercial shipments.
Consular legalization
The "old" procedure for validating a document in another country, predating the apostille. It is still used for countries that are not part of the Hague Convention: instead of a single stamp, the document passes through several bodies and through the consulate of the destination country. The Philippines no longer needs it as of 2019, but some destinations still do.
OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker)
A Filipino worker abroad. It is a central figure of Filipino reality: millions of people work outside the country and support their families with remittances and shipments of goods. A large share of the balikbayan boxes leaving Europe are sent by OFWs to their families in the Philippines.
Pasabuy
An informal service in which someone who is traveling "buys for you" and brings you the product, usually in exchange for a fee. It is popular within the Filipino community, but it is not a professional service: there is no insurance, no tracking, no guaranteed timeline, and it depends on the trip actually happening. We compare its limits against a courier in detail in pasabuy vs a professional company.
Pasalubong
The gift or treat a Filipino brings to family and friends when returning from a trip or when sending something from abroad. It is a deeply rooted tradition: sweets, clothing, typical products from the country where they live. A large part of the emotional content of a balikbayan box is, at heart, pasalubong.
PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority)
The Philippine body that keeps the civil registry: births, marriages and deaths. For a marriage held in Spain or the birth of a child of Filipinos to have legal effect in the Philippines, it has to be registered with the PSA. It is a step many people forget and that is worth anticipating.
Remittance
The money an emigrant sends to their family in their country of origin. Although "remittance" refers to sending money, it goes hand in hand with sending goods: the same family that receives a remittance usually also receives balikbayan boxes and documents.
SPA (Special Power of Attorney)
A special power of attorney: a document by which you authorize another person to act on your behalf for a specific matter (sell a piece of land, operate an account, manage an estate). It is the document most often apostilled and sent to the Philippines from Spain.
Tracking
The follow-up of the shipment: the system that lets you know where the parcel is at any moment, by means of a code. It is the difference between "the document is on its way" and "the document is here". A shipment with no tracking is a shipment in the dark.
Transit
The time it takes a shipment to go from origin to destination, once it has left. It does not include the prior procedures (apostille, translation) or the customs times at destination. When we give an honest timeline, we separate transit from procedures so the expectation is realistic.
How these terms fit into a real shipment
Seeing the words on their own helps, but understanding the order helps more. A typical shipment of documents to the Philippines combines several terms in a sequence:
| Phase | Terms involved |
| Preparing the document | SPA, apostille, consular legalization, DFA |
| Drop-off and quoting | courier, cut-off, tracking |
| Flight and transit | AWB, transit |
| Arrival in the Philippines | BOC, CMTA, exemption, DDP/DDU |
| Using the document | PSA, BI, dual citizenship |
A balikbayan box shipment follows a similar logic, swapping the document for the box and adding concepts like pasalubong and the exemption treatment. If you want an idea of what influences the cost of a parcel shipment, we break it down in how much it costs to send a parcel to the Philippines from Spain: the weight, the destination within the Philippines and the type of contents weigh more than any acronym.
Frequently asked questions about international shipping terms
What exactly does "balikbayan" mean?
It is a Filipino word that translates as "return to the country" and describes a Filipino person who returns or who lives abroad while keeping their bond with the Philippines. That is where the "balikbayan box" comes from, the box those people use to send goods to their family.
Is a courier the same as the postal service?
No. The postal service is a basic service, with no defined timeline and often no real tracking. A courier offers tracking, specific timelines, door-to-door delivery and human support if something gets complicated. For important documents or shipments with value, the difference matters.
Are pasabuy and courier interchangeable?
No. Pasabuy is an informal favor from someone who is traveling: no insurance, no tracking and conditional on the trip happening. A courier is a professional service with liability, traceability and timelines. They serve different purposes and should not be confused.
Do I have to know the HS Code of what I am shipping?
In personal shipments, usually not: the transport company handles it within the customs documentation. The HS Code is more relevant in commercial shipments. As an individual, describing the contents well is enough.
What is the difference between an apostille and consular legalization?
Both validate a document for use in another country. The apostille is a single, fast procedure, valid between countries of the Hague Convention (the Philippines included since 2019). Consular legalization is the old procedure, longer, still used with countries that are not in the Convention.
Questions about a term in your shipment? We will explain it
This glossary covers the essentials, but every shipment has its context. If you have been told an acronym that does not appear here, or you do not know whether your case needs an apostille, a translation or a specific customs treatment, the quickest thing is to ask someone who handles it every day.
At Acacia Cargo we are a local operator in Barcelona: we explain in plain language what your document shipment or your balikbayan box needs, and we give you a closed price on WhatsApp within 2 hours, with no generic rates. We serve you in Spanish, English and Filipino, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 20:00.
Ask for your quote on our quote page or write to us on WhatsApp at +34 626 78 54 28. Office: Carrer de Pelai 9, 08001 Barcelona.
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