Questions frequently asked by businesses

This is our FAQ page.You can browse the questions or write your question in the field below.

Import

If a prohibition of use is placed on a sample for the duration of the examinations, the product cannot be put into use. If there is a specific motivated reason why the goods should be allowed to be put into use, contact Customs’ product safety unit. In the case of internal market sampling, samples are generally not prohibited from being put into use; in that case, they can be delivered for sale.


The country of origin is the country where the goods are from i.e., were they were produced or manufactured.

If goods have undergone manufacturing or processing in at least two countries, the country of origin is the country where the last significant and economically motivated manufacturing or processing was performed and which resulted in a new product. For example, packaging, sorting and other comparable small scale handling is not considered manufacturing.

However, the dispatching country is entered as the country of origin in accordance with the statistical directives in the following cases:

  • the country of origin is not known (and cannot be established)
  • returned goods and other goods originating in the Union
  • goods belonging in chapter 97 of the customs tariff
  • after outward processing (nature of transaction stating codes 51, 52 or 53 in box 24) for imported goods.

The Customs Laboratory does not take commercial analysis orders. The declarant is responsible for the conformity of the product and can have its conformity tested by commercial traders. More information is available on the websites of the Finnish Food Authority and TUKES. 
When you are planning to import goods (Customs)
Import and export (Finnish Food Authority)
Products and services (Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency)


Products to be examined are chosen randomly in accordance with Customs’ control plan, and the decision on sampling is based on an assessment of risk factors. The control has to be done regularly. In addition to risk-based sampling, the extent of the internal market imports, the range of products, the origin of the product, the supplier, any previous examination results and the EU Commission's RASFF alerts affect the frequency of sampling. Similar products of other traders are also regularly monitored to ensure that the products comply with the regulations.


Export

EUR.1 (and A.TR.) -application forms are sold at PunaMustas online store (in Finnish).

EUR.1 movement certificates are primarily endorsed by post. Please send your certificates to the following address: 

Kotka Customs
Certificates
Merituulentie 424
48310 Kotka.

Kotka Customs will endorse the certificates no later than on the day following the arrival of the certificates, and the endorsed certificates will be sent back to the customer to the requested address immediately after the processing. 

The EUR.1 movement certificate can also be endorsed over the counter at any customs office with customer service: Contact information and postal addresses.

For frequent exportation of originating products, the exporter should apply for the status of approved exporter. Then the exporter can personally draft a standard-form declaration of origin to the consignment’s commercial document and an EUR.1 movement certificate endorsed by Customs is not needed.


Customs form No. 892 and its attachment, customs form No. 895, are primarily used as fallback documents.

Alternately, the SAD form (Single Administrative Document) can be used together with customs form No. 890.

Read more: Export fallback procedure

 


Registration as an export customer is worthwhile, as Customs can process electronic declarations as smoothly as possible.

Upon registration, Customs enters the name and address details of the company in its customer register along with any possible information on authorisations. When a company submits an electronic export declaration into Customs’ export system, the system processes the declaration faster, as the information is already in the customer register.

Registration is obligatory if the company lodges more than four export declarations per year.


Tax-free sales to travellers are supervised by the Finnish Tax Administration. According to the bulletin ‘Tax-free sales to travellers - Guidance for retailers’ released by the Tax Administration, sales to travellers comprise sales of goods to travellers who reside continuously outside the EU or outside Norway and who buy goods in Finland and export the goods as unused from Finland in their personal luggage.

There are no value limits in tax-free sales to travellers except for the minimum value of 40 euros. A buyer pays value added tax at the time of purchase, but gets a partial or total refund upon later presenting an account in accordance with section 8 in the value added tax act (a verification stamped by Customs or an invoice by a refund company) on the goods having been taken out of the EU territory.

The bulletin ‘Tax-free sales to travellers - Guidance for retailers’ is available on the Tax Administration’s website www.vero.fi