Declarations for exiting goods

A pre-departure declaration must be submitted to the competent customs office within a specific time limit before the goods are taken out of the customs territory of the Union.

Exceptions to this are means of transport and the goods carried thereon only passing through the territorial waters or the airspace of the customs territory of the Union without a stop within the territory of the Union or moving without being unloaded via a third country back into the Union. In addition, the requirement for a pre-departure declaration does not apply e.g. to the following:

1. electrical energy
2. goods leaving by pipeline
3. items of correspondence
4. goods moved under the rules of the acts of the Universal Postal Union
5. household effects, provided that they are not carried under a transport agreement
6. goods contained in travellers’ personal baggage
7. goods for which an oral export declaration is accepted
8. goods for which an oral declaration is accepted upon temporary admission, provided that they are not carried under a transport contract (e.g. pallets, containers and means of transport, their spare parts, accessories and equipment)
9. goods covered by ATA and CPD carnets
10. goods moved under cover of a NATO form 302
11. goods carried on vessels moving between Union ports without any intervening call at any port outside the customs territory of the Union
12. goods carried on aircraft moving between Union airports without any intervening call at any airport outside the customs territory of the Union
13. weapons and military equipment taken out of the customs territory of the Union by the authorities in charge of the military defence of a Member State, in military transport or transport operated for the sole use of the military authorities
14. goods taken out of the customs territory of the Union directly to offshore installations operated by a person established in the customs territory of the Union (e.g. for construction, repair and equipment)
15. diplomatic consignments
16. goods which are supplied for incorporation as part of or accessories in vessels or aircraft and for the operation of the engines, machines and other equipment of vessels or aircraft, as well as foodstuffs and other items to be consumed or sold on board
17. goods dispatched from the customs territory of the Union to Ceuta and Melilla, Gibraltar, Heligoland, the Republic of San Marino, the Vatican City State or the municipality of Livigno.

When the country of destination of the goods is Switzerland, Liechtenstein or Norway, no exit summary declaration is required, but the other exit declarations (IE547 and IE590) for the export goods are submitted.

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.