How to apply for message exchange customer status
If you want to submit customs declarations via message exchange, your company must register as a message exchange customer. Registration is required for
- companies that handle the message exchange themselves
- companies that provide message exchange services to other companies.
Software suppliers can apply for registration if they wish to test the customs clearance software.
Check how to register and prepare for starting message exchange.
Determine the role of your company in message exchange. This information must be provided in the registration application.
- Your company acts as a message declarant that builds the declaration messages according to the specifications set by Customs and transmits them to Customs.
- You have to obtain customs clearance software e.g. from one of these companies that provide customs clearance software. When you apply for registration as a message exchange customer, you need to know which customs clearance software is going to be used.
- Your company acts as a message declarant that uses a service provider for building and transmitting declaration messages.
- Make an agreement with a service provider. When you apply for registration as a message exchange customer, you will need to know the EORI number of the service provider.
- Your company acts as a service provider that builds and transmits declarations via direct exchange messages on behalf of another company.
- If your company is a software supplier that is only registering in order to test the software, choose the role “software supplier” in the application.
A company may also act in more than one role at the same time. In such situations, you should first contact Customs Business Information and make sure how to enter the details in the application. It is technically possible for a company to act as a message declarant, send some of the messages itself, submit some of the declarations using one or several service providers while acting as a service provider for a another company.
Guidance for making the decision:
- Take a look at our guidance: “Introduction to message exchange” and “Message exchange: Technical guidebook”. You can find them at the end of this page.
- If needed, contact Customs Business Information.
1. If you want to submit customs declarations to the Customs Clearance System
Submit a registration application in the Authorisations and Decisions Service. Provide the following details in the application:
- the EORI number of your company
- the contact person in your company who Customs can contact in matters relating to message exchange and testing
- the role of your company in message exchange (see point 1)
- declarations for which the message exchange authorisation is applied
- additional information if your company sends the messages either as a declarant or a service provider:
- name of the company that produces the customs clearance software
- Will your company start using the message notification service? The message notification service speeds up the processing of declarations, so Customs recommends using it. Find out the URL to which the company’s message notifications will be sent in the test and production environment.
- Additional information if your company produces the customs clearance software itself:
- Will submitting attachments via message exchange be tested?
The company sending the messages must apply for a server certificate for message exchange from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV). The technical requirements of the certificate are listed in the technical guidebook for message exchange.
2. If you want to submit declarations via message exchange to the Arrival and exit declaration system (AREX), the Export declaration system (ELEX) or the Intrastat declaration system
Fill in Customs form 934 and send it to lupakeskus(at)tulli.fi:
Customs Business Information, together with your company’s contact person, will determine the required measures related to the company’s competence in customs procedures and to message exchange in order to ensure smooth transactions.
Before the start of message exchange, the data connections and the software will be tested. The Customs testing official will inform your company’s contact person of the dates for the testing period. Make sure that you will have sufficient resources for the testing. Read more about the testing practices: Testing instructions
Before starting message exchange, you should subscribe to notices about service downtime concerning message exchange to be informed by email about disruptions in message exchange.
If you have problems with message exchange you can contact Customs’ customer support for message exchange.
In some situations, you may have to make an amendment application or apply for a new registration.
Examples of changes:
- The company’s Business ID changes.
- You change your message exchange service provider or wish to give up your status as message exchange customer.
- You start using different customs clearance software or significant changes are made to the software you are using. This may require retesting with Customs.
- Your company needs to extend the use of message exchange to declarations that have not been tested earlier.
- There will be other changes in the details provided in the registration application for message exchange.
If the change concerns the Customs Clearance System, apply for amendment in the Authorisations and Decisions Service.
If the change concerns some other system than the Customs Clearance System, apply for amendment using the Customs form:
In your situation, Customs Business Information. will advise on whether you need to notify Customs of the change or send an amendment application to Customs.