Declarations for arriving goods

The details of the transit declaration lodged for the goods are used as a temporary storage declaration. Safety and security data can be provided in the transit declaration also in road and rail transport, in which case no separate entry summary declaration is required. 

• For Union goods carried by a regular shipping service approved by Customs, no temporary storage declarations or presentation notifications are submitted, and non-Union goods shall be transported under the T1 transit procedure.
• A temporary storage declaration shall be submitted for all goods to be unloaded from a non-regular shipping service vessel. If proof of Union status has been obtained for Union goods from the Commission’s Proof of Union Status system (PoUS), a temporary storage declaration is not required for them.

No entry summary declaration is submitted for these goods, but a temporary storage declaration. In addition, a presentation notification (the link is not yet functional) is submitted.

• electrical energy
• goods entering by pipeline
• items of correspondence
• postal consignments transported by road or rail
• household effects that are duty-free on the basis of the Duty Relief Regulation provided that they are not carried under a transport contract
• goods for which an oral customs declaration is permitted upon import, provided that they are not carried under a transport contract (e.g. non-commercial goods)
  goods for which an oral declaration is permitted upon temporary admission, provided that they are not carried under a transport contract (for example pallets, containers and means of transport)
• goods contained in travellers’ personal baggage
• goods imported under cover of a NATO form 302
• weapons and military equipment brought into the customs territory of the Union by the authorities in charge of the military defence of a Member State, in military transport or for the sole use of the military authorities
• certain goods brought from offshore installations by a person established in the Union (such as returned provisions and goods which were used to fit or equip the offshore installations)
• Diplomatic goods covered by the Vienna Convention of 1963
• goods on board vessels and aircraft which have been supplied for incorporation as parts of or accessories in those vessels and aircraft, for operation or to be consumed or sold on board
• goods brought into the customs territory of the Union from regions outside the customs territory of the Union (e.g. Ceuta and Melilla, Gibraltar, Heligoland, the Republic of San Marino and the Vatican City State)
• goods covered by ATA or CPD carnets, provided they are not carried under a transport contract.

If a carrier brings in or takes out empty means of transport (such as containers, trailers, wagons and pallets) or empty packages across the EU border which are not its own and for which a transport contract has been drawn up, an entry or exit summary declaration must be provided for them.

The declaration is only submitted for packages that are reusable and have permanent markings. There is no requirement to submit an exit summary declaration for empty packages.

Empty means of transport or packages carried on vessels or aircraft that arrive directly in Finland from an EU port or airport, or from Norway or Switzerland, need not be declared using a temporary storage declaration.

An entry or exit summary declaration must be submitted within the time limit specified for each mode of transport. 

• When an empty means of transport arrives in the EU, the carrier or its representative presents the MRN of the entry summary declaration.
• When goods are carried by road, it is recommended that the MRN and the container number be presented at the customs office of entry in the form of an entry in the transport permit or in another document carried with the transport.
• When carrying goods by sea and rail, an electronic presentation notification is to be used.

Containers that have been rented for the company’s own use are regarded as the company’s means of transport and safety and security data need not be submitted for them with an entry or exit summary declaration.

Declaration details in entry or exit summary declarations in road and rail transport

In road and rail transport, provide both the commodity code and a verbal description for an empty container or package. The text ‘EMPTY CONTAINER’ should be entered as the verbal description. In road transport, the container number must also be provided. In rail transport, the description should be provided as ‘EMPTY WAGON’ and, for a package, as ‘EMPTY PACKAGE’.

The code NE (unpacked) can be entered as the ‘kind of packages’, in which case the number of means of transport (e.g. containers) is entered as the number of pieces. The ‘container identification number’ must be provided, even if the container number has been entered under the goods description. The mass provided for an empty container or other means of transport is the unladen mass of the container or other means of transport. Customs’ system will reject any declarations where the gross mass is provided as 0 (zero).

If an empty container or other means of transport carried under a transport contract is returned without providing a separate consignment note concerning the return, the consignment note drawn up for the purpose of exporting the goods is provided as the transport document, which contains an entry on returning the empty container.

As the consignor of the empty container that is to be returned, enter the operator who has received the cargo that was transported in the container. The container storage operator at the port can be entered as the consignee. The holder of the empty container who has requested its return can also be entered as the consignor and consignee.

Declaring empty means of transport in sea transport with an entry summary declaration

When you submit an entry summary declaration for an empty container that is not the shipping company’s own, provide the container details at goods item level as follows:

• container packed status: A – empty
• container identification number (e.g. ABCD1234567)
• container size and type
• container supplier type (Shipper supplied)
• Harmonised System sub-heading code 860900
• description of goods: empty sea container
• the gross mass: the weight of the container
• type of packages: NE

Please note that you can only provide the container details if you have indicted in the details of containers for the house consignment that the goods (containers) are transported in containers.

In declarations, the goods description provided must be appropriately precise. The Commission’s guidance on acceptable and unacceptable terms for the description of goods

 

The declarant must store the documents related to the declaration they have submitted to Customs or the electronic data from which the declaration details were obtained. These documents to be stored include e.g. transport documents provided in (entry) summary declarations.

All documents may be stored electronically. The storage period is the current year plus three years. The response notifications sent by Customs don’t need to be archived, unless otherwise laid down or prescribed elsewhere.

Finnish Customs’ regulation on the archiving of documents when declarations are lodged electronically (9/2016) (not available in English).