Discharging the customs warehousing procedure

The customs warehousing procedure is discharged by placement of the goods under a subsequent customs procedure, by re-export of the goods out of the customs territory of the Union, by destruction of the goods with no waste remaining or by abandonment of the goods to the State. The goods can only be released from the warehouse against a declaration accepted by Customs. The removal from the warehouse must be specified so that the audit trail remains intact and can be followed.

The subsequent customs procedure can be e.g. release for free circulation, transit or inward processing. When customs warehousing is discharged by taking the goods out of the Union, a re-export declaration must be lodged for the goods. A re-export declaration can be followed by transit.After the discharge of customs warehousing, the holder of the warehousing authorisation shall submit a discharge notification to Customs.

In the customs declaration, indicate the documents preceding the removal from the warehouse

In the customs declaration that discharges customs warehousing, enter the following as previous documents:

  • the MRN and goods item number of an electronically submitted customs warehousing declaration
  • the warehouse deposit numbers for each goods item in a declaration lodged with a SAD form. Another reference number specifying the function preceding the removal from the warehouse can be used as a previous document for a re-export declaration of bulk goods.

Customs may require that the warehouse keeper presents a loading report or other corresponding document, when the goods are removed from the warehouse or when the goods are controlled.

Submit a discharge notification to Customs when all goods have left the warehouse

When the customs warehousing procedure has been discharged, the holder of the warehousing authorisation submits a discharge notification to Customs in Customs’ online service or with a message. It is a list of all the electronically lodged customs warehousing declarations where the goods have been placed under a subsequent customs procedure or re-exported.

The discharge notification contains the MRNs of the customs warehousing declarations regarding which the customs warehousing procedure has been discharged. If the discharge notification contains the MRN of a customs warehousing declaration covering goods for which no declaration discharging the customs warehousing has been lodged or if the state of the declaration is incorrect, Customs will reject the discharge notification. For example, the state of the export declaration shall be ‘Exit certified’ and the state of the import, transit or customs warehousing declaration shall be ‘Released’.

A discharge notification for gods in bulk cannot always be connected to a specific customs warehousing declaration or presentation notification. When this is not possible, the discharge notification will be submitted by calculation according to the first-in-first-out principle starting from the oldest declaration.

Points to consider

The Import Declaration Service automatically generates a packaging type code for a customs clearance by a private customer. The package type is an item of background information which cannot be altered by the person seeing to the customs clearance. Custom does not make corrections to the packaging type in a customs clearance or add correction entries in customs clearance decisions. When a decision on release concerning importation by a private customer is included as receipt in the warehouse bookkeeping, the correct packaging type is sufficient information. A sufficient goods description and the correct packaging type code and quantity are required for bookkeeping.


The holder of the customs warehousing authorisation is responsible for submitting the discharge notification. Submit the discharge notification to Customs’ Electronic Service Centre by email, when the customs declaration discharging the procedure is not submitted electronically. Such situations include, for example, simplified ship supplies, destruction of the goods or abandonment of the goods to the State and temporary admission with an oral declaration.

The notification shall also be submitted by email for customs warehousing declarations where customs warehousing has been discharged by lodging a declaration under the fallback procedure and the declaration has not been lodged electronically after the end of the outage.

Send the following details to Customs' Electronic Service Centre for the discharge of the customs warehousing declaration:
  • name, EORI number, trader office identifier and address details of the holder of the customs warehousing authorisation
  • details of the representative, if any
  • own reference, if any
  • identification of warehouse: if the goods have been moved between the authorisation holder’s own warehouses, enter the identification of the warehouse declare in the original customs warehousing declaration
  • the MRNs of the customs warehousing declarations to be discharged
Notify the Electronic Service Centre also of how customs warehousing was discharged and provide the following details of the discharge of customs warehousing:
  • ship supply, when the supplier has the authorisation for simplified ship supplies
    • information of where and when the goods were delivered, e.g. vessel name and date or flight number and date
  • destruction under customs supervision
    • number and date of the certificate of destruction
  • abandonment to the State
    • number and date of the document with which the goods were abandoned to the State
  • temporary admission with an oral declaration
    • customs office where the goods were placed under temporary admission and date
    • details of the person who placed the goods under the procedure
    • identification of the goods placed under the procedure, e.g. boat’s name and identification
  • declaration only submitted under the fallback procedure
    • transit: manually issued number and date
    • other procedures: customs office where the goods were placed under temporary admission and date as well as customer’s reference

 


The goods can be moved to the customs office of discharge specified in the customs warehousing authorisation, when the customs warehousing procedure is discharged by another customs procedure.

If customs warehousing is discharged by the transit procedure and the standard transit declaration is used, the transit procedure must be started at a customs office. The goods will be moved to the customs office under the customs warehousing procedure under the responsibility of the holder of the customs warehousing authorisation. Customs will seal the cargo before the release for the transit procedure if the principal does not have an authorisation for sealing.


When customs warehousing is ended with release for free circulation or a special import procedure, such as inward processing, the reference number and date of the decision on release must be entered in the records. As a receipt in the stock records, you should attach a copy of the decision on release, a release message or some other document indicating release of goods. A document on release may for example be a declaration submitted under a fallback procedure.


When customs warehousing is ended with a T1 transit, the MRN of the transit and the date must be entered into the records. A copy of a possible transit accompanying document is added to the records as a receipt.


The goods can be destroyed under Customs supervision if they, for example, are spoiled during storage. Customs decides case-by-case, if the goods can be destroyed under customs supervision or whether they are to be place under inward processing. Either a certificate of destruction endorsed by Customs or a decision on release after inward processing, are added to the records of the customs warehouse.


The re-export declaration can be submitted by a person who has enough information for submitting the declaration and who can present the goods to Customs. In practice, the declaration can be submitted by the holder of the customs warehousing authorisation, the transport operator or their representative. The holder of the authorisation is still the person responsible for the customs warehousing procedure being ended correctly. The responsibilities regarding the accounts, are either the responsibility of the holder of the authorisation and/or the holder of the procedure as defined in the customs warehousing authorisation.

If the declarant repeatedly submits re-export declaration, they must also register as a registered export customer.

Goods may be moved under the customs warehousing procedure to the place of exit or to another customs office of exit mentioned in the authorisation and which has the competence to release the goods for the next customs procedure. No separate authorisation is required when moving goods under the customs warehousing procedure. The data regarding the movement must be entered in the records.

The re-export declaration’s decision on release for a customs procedure simultaneously acts as permission to unload from a warehouse. The responsibility of the warehouse keeper only ends after the goods have left the Union or have been placed under another customs procedure. Receipts regarding the exit or the placing under another customs procedure, must be added to the warehouse records. An entry in the records regarding the exit of the goods must be made as soon as the goods are physically removed from the customs warehouse facility.

Example: The goods are loaded from a customs warehouse located at a port onto a vessel, which departs directly from the customs territory of the Union. If a container is in question, the re-export declaration must be submitted no later than two hours before departure (bulk–4 hours before departure). The place of exit of the goods is in Finland. An arrival at exit notification must be submitted for the goods; unless exemption has been granted. The decision on release of the re-export, ends the customs warehousing procedure. The date when the goods were removed from the warehouse, as well as the date that the exit of the vessel was endorsed, are entered into the customs warehouse records. The decision on release for a customs procedure is added to the records and the decision on release with confirmation of exit (or at least the latter).


After the re-export declaration is submitted, the goods can be transferred to the place of exit under the customs warehousing procedure. The place of exit can be located in Finland or in another EU Member State. The goods remain under the customs warehousing procedure until they exit the customs territory of the Union.

The movement must end within 30 days of the goods being removed from the customs warehouse. An entry must be made in the records within 100 days of the final exit of the goods from the Union. The holder of the procedure must be able to prove that the goods have left the customs warehouse as well as the Union. If the goods have been moved at the Union border under a customs warehousing procedure, the records must contain two separate entries; an entry on removal from the warehouse and an entry of exit out of the Union. The documents regarding the exit must be added to the records.

Example: Goods to be exported to Russia are to be moved under customs warehousing procedure from a customs warehouse in Kouvola to the place of exit in Vaalimaa. The holder of the authorisation submits a re-export declaration, which decision on release for the procedure functions as a loading permit for the goods to be removed from the warehouse. The goods are loaded into the export vehicle. The holder of the authorisation does the necessary entries in the records regarding the removal of goods from the warehouse. At Vaalimaa, the carrier presents the export accompanying document (EAD) based on which Customs discharges the re-export. The declarant receives to their system a decision on release with certification of exit. The holder of the authorisation adds the decision to their records and does the entries concerning the removal of the goods.


After submitting the re-export declaration, the goods can be placed under the transit procedure (T1 or TIR Carnet). The goods are moved under the customs warehousing procedure to were the transit is opened. The customs warehousing procedure ends, when the goods have been placed under the transit procedure and the responsibility for the goods is transferred to the person responsible for the transit procedure. The MRN of the re-export declaration is entered into the warehouse records, when the good are removed from the warehouse facilities.

Example: The goods leave the customs warehouse in Kouvola and arrive at the Customs office in Kotka for the opening of a TIR Carnet. The goods are to be delivered to Russia. After submitting the re-export declaration, the goods are loaded into the export vehicle. The holder of the authorisation adds the decision on release for the customs procedure to their records and makes an entry regarding the removal of the goods from the warehouse. The person responsible for the transit has made an electronic transit declaration (TIR-NCTS), with re-exportation (31) as the previous procedure, including the MRN number of the re-export declaration. The customs office in Kotka discharges the re-exportation and endorses the TIR Carnet. However, the exit of the goods is not endorsed in the Customs systems until the TIR Carnet has been presented at the border. The holder of the customs warehousing procedure adds a copy of the Volet 1 to their stock records and makes the entries concerning the exit. A decision on release with confirmation of exit is not needed at this stage, since the customs warehousing procedure has been discharged with the opening of a transit with transit entries in the records.


The goods can be moved under the customs warehousing procedure to another authorisation holder, who will place the goods under the customs warehousing procedure again.

Example:

Warehouse Ltd. has placed the goods under the customs warehousing procedure. Customs has issued an MRN to the declaration. The goods are going to be moved from Warehouse Ltd.’s warehouse to Storage Ltd.’s warehouse under the responsibility of Storage Ltd. Storage Ltd. submits a customs warehousing declaration to Customs. In the declaration, the MRN issued to the Warehouse Ltd.’s earlier declaration is indicated as previous declaration.

When Storage Ltd. has received the release decision from Customs, Warehouse Ltd. can release the goods from its warehouse and they can be moved to Storage Ltd.’s warehouse. Storage Ltd. receives the goods and enters them in its records. Warehouse Ltd. submits a discharge notification to Customs. In the discharge notification, the company provides the MRN of the customs warehousing declaration with which the goods arrived at Warehouse Ltd.’s warehouse.


When the goods are loaded at a port, or from a customs warehouse in its direct vicinity, directly onto a vessel assigned to a regular shipping service, the goods have to be transited. The transit procedure ends the customs warehousing procedure.

If the goods exit Finland on another vessel than a vessel assigned to a regular shipping service, all goods on board will be processed as undeclared goods at the port of destination. In these situations, the use of Union transit procedure is not mandatory. For the control of exiting foods, Customs requires that a customs declaration also be submitted for such goods. An electronic re-export declaration is used for this purpose. The national procedure code 7VO is used in the declaration. The customs warehousing procedure is discharged when the exit of the goods on a vessel other than one assigned to a regular shipping service can be endorsed with a decision on release with confirmation of exit.

Example: The goods are loaded at the port of Kotka onto an oil tanker from a customs warehouse of a liquid cargo terminal operator, who transports them to the port of Hamburg. At this stage, the operator usually does not know the final destination of the goods. The holder of the procedure makes a re-export declaration with the code 7VO. The accepted declaration is simultaneously a loading permit. The goods are loaded onto the vessel. The holder of the authorisation adds the decision on release for a customs procedure to their records and makes an entry of the removal of the goods from the warehouse. The holder of the procedure receives a decision on release with confirmation of exit when Customs has endorsed the exit of the goods. The holder of the procedure adds the decision on release with confirmation of exit to the records and makes an entry of the exit of the goods from the Union.


When postal packages are exported from a customs warehouse to a territory outside the Union, a re-export declaration must be lodged for the goods. A customs declaration (Postal form CN 22/CN 23) for customs clearance, must be made for postal packages to be transported by Posti outside the EU. When Posti accepts the goods for transport from the local post office to the sorting centre for cross-border mail, the movement of the goods within the customs territory of the Union is equated with external transit.

When Customs has sent the decision on release for the procedure to the person who made the re-export declaration, the goods can be removed from the warehouse. The customs warehousing ends when the release of the package to Posti for re-export has been established.

The holder of the procedure must add the document provided by Posti, regarding the receipt of the goods, to their stock records as well as a copy of the customs declaration. These documents must be linked to the warehouse deposit data regarding the goods. Furthermore, the holder of the procedure must scan the export accompanying document and the declaration and send them to Customs (spake.vienti(at)tulli.fi). With this information Customs can discharge the re-export. The person who made the re-export declaration receives from Customs a decision on release with confirmation of exit, which the holder of the procedure needs as a receipt for their records.


If goods are posted to another country within the Union, no separate electronic transit declaration is needed. A customs declaration (Postal form CN 22/CN 23) for customs clearance, must be made for postal packages to be transported by Posti to another country within the Union. When Posti accepts the goods for transport from the local post office to the sorting centre for cross-border mail, the movement of the goods within the customs territory of the Union is equated with external transit.

The warehouse keeper is responsible for the postal package until the release of the package to Posti for transport has been established. To end the customs warehousing procedure, the holder of the procedure must add the document, provided by Posti regarding the receipt of the goods, to their stock records as well as a copy of the customs declaration. These documents must be linked to the warehouse deposit data regarding the goods.