Import declarations submitted to Customs will be renewed in the next few years. In April 2021, the aim is to introduce new declarations submitted by businesses for goods imported from outside the EU as well as so-called tax border declarations for goods imported from inside the EU customs territory, but from outside the EU fiscal territory. The exact date for the introduction of these declarations will be confirmed later. The new customs declarations must be lodged either in the new customs clearance service or as message declarations to Customs’ new customs clearance system.
Import declarations will be renewed in phases
In April 2021, the standard import declaration lodged when goods imported from outside the EU are released for free circulation in Finland will be renewed. The new declaration will be used when the customs procedure code is 40 or 01, 07, 42, 45, 61, 63 or 68. The one-step standard declaration must be used when applying for tariff quotas or when applying the authorisation to present missing documents.
Simplified customs declarations lodged in two steps will be renewed later, at the end of 2021. At the same time, the following declarations for special procedures will be renewed: the declarations for inward processing, temporary admission and end-use.
Tax border declarations will also be renewed
In April 2021, the following declarations will also be renewed: import declarations by businesses for Union goods that are
- imported from outside the EU fiscal territory from another EU country, for example, from the Canary Islands
- imported from another EU country across the tax border to the Åland Islands
- transported across the tax border between the Åland Islands and the rest of Finland.
After this, businesses registered as tax border customers can, however, continue to submit recapitulative statements in the goods traffic between the Åland Islands and the rest of Finland to the current tax border declaration service for the Åland Islands (ALA).
However, private persons must start submitting declarations for goods traffic between the Åland Islands and the rest of Finland in the Import Declaration Service for private persons in February 2021.
Message exchange customers: start using the new declarations no later than on 31 May 2021
Message exchange customers can start using the new import declarations in April 2021. The declarations must be in accordance with the second phase message descriptions (message implementing guidelines), and the declarations can only be submitted via direct message exchange. Message exchange customers must start using the new declarations for free circulation no later than on 31 May 2021.
In order to submit declarations as messages, a business must submit an application for message exchange to Customs via the service Applying for a message exchange authorisation. The current message exchange customers must also apply for an authorisation. Software suppliers, service providers and message exchange customers that transmit their messages from their own servers to Customs must test the new declarations with Customs. Customs will agree on the dates for testing with each business. If a business uses a service provider in generating and transmitting messages, it does not have to test the new messages with Customs.
More information: UCC(at)tulli.fi
