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The postal service stores and also transports packages that are to be cleared by Customs – Customs helps with the customs clearance

Publication date 9.10.2015 9.00
Press release

Are you going to receive a package, which needs to be cleared by Customs?Remember that the postal service stores and transports your package and Customs, in turn, helps the recipient with the customs clearance.You can conduct the customs clearance with our convenient and popular Web Import service. 

Packages that arrive in Finland and are to be cleared by Customs remain at the customs warehouse in Vantaa until the recipient has cleared the consignment through customs and has paid any possible import taxes. The postal service sends a notification of arrival to the recipient and also transports the consignments that have been cleared through customs from the warehouse, as well as handles possible returns.

Please direct all questions you might have regarding the transportation of the package, the location of the package or the notification of arrival - to the postal service, since Customs cannot answer these questions. Also remember the Item tracking service provided by the postal service Posti.

Who is responsible for clearing the package through Customs and when can it be done? 

The recipient of a consignment is always responsible for clearing the goods through Customs. If you have a Finnish personal ID-number and Finnish online banking IDs, we recommend that you use our Web Import Service, free of charge 24 hours a day. You save both time and effort when you do not have to visit a Customs office. Read more on customs clearance alternatives.

Apart from online banking IDs for online customs clearance, you need the order confirmation or the invoice for your purchase as well as the data on the notification of arrival, which is also available at Posti’s item tracking.

You can clear your postal consignment as soon as the item tracking service states "Delivery has arrived at the customs warehouse. You have 20 days from the day of the delivery to take care of the customs declaration".You can also wait for the arrival notification.

Find the commodity code of your item in advance

To make it easier to fill in the Custom declaration, there are over 200 commodity codes for general items listed in the Customs Web Import Service. To speed up the Customs clearance procedure it pays to check if the commodity code for your item can be found on the Customs website (in Finnish) before logging on to the service. Observe that if a consignment has been sent from the Jersey Island, i.e. the Channel Islands, you do not need a commodity code at all.

The Web Declaration Support can help you in finding the right commodity code (tel. 0295 5206, Mon-Fri 8 am - 6 pm) and the Customs Information Service (tel. 0295 5201, Mon-Fri 8 am - 4 pm). You can also request a commodity code electronically. 

Which consignments do not have to be cleared by customs?

If the combined value of the goods in a consignment does not exceed 22 euros or the consignment is a gift from a private person and not worth more than 45 euros, you do not (with some exceptions, though) have to fill in a customs declaration or pay any taxes. The recipient does have to send an order confirmation or a report regarding the gift and its worth, as well as the arrival ID and contact information, by e-mail to lentoposti@tulli.fi for the consignment to be released. Additional information is available on our website and you can also call the web declaration support number on 0295 5206, Mon-Fri 8 am - 6 pm.

Observe that if you have ordered something from a private person it is not a gift, it is trading.

What should I do if I have received a gift and do not know what the consignment contains?

If you receive a gift you have to ask the sender to clarify what the gift is and how much it is worth, so that Customs can define whether it is a gift that can be released without being cleared by Customs. Gifts worth more than 45 euros are to be cleared by Customs and the usual import taxes are to be paid as for any other online purchase.

Additional information:

Shopping online

Questions about postal consignments?

FAQ about the Web Import service

This is how you clear a consignment! – video (in Finnish)

Gifts sent from abroad

 

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