Message declarants submitting entry summary declarations and software developers: the EU has published message specifications for the new declarations

The entry summary declarations and arrival notifications to be submitted for goods consignments arriving from outside the EU will be updated in stages according to a timetable laid down by the EU. The new declarations for postal consignments have already been introduced in March 2022. The new declarations for air transport will be deployed on 1 March 2023. The deployment of the entry declarations for the other transport modes looks set to be postponed until spring 2025.

The new entry summary declarations and arrival notifications

The entry summary declarations that are currently submitted to the Arrival and exit declaration service (AREX) for goods arriving from outside the EU will be replaced by new declarations in stages. In future, the entry summary declarations and separate arrival notifications must be submitted to the EU’s new Common Repository, or CR system. The arrival notification is mandatory for goods carried by sea, air or rail. The new declarations can be lodged either via the EU’s e-service or as messages.

In addition, a new presentation notification with an updated structure and content is to be provided to Finnish Customs for goods arriving by air, sea and rail. For goods arriving by road, operators will still only be required to submit an entry summary declaration. It will no longer be possible to submit a combined arrival and presentation notification to Finnish Customs.

In Finland, there will still be no requirement to submit a separate temporary storage declaration, that is, the current summary declaration, for consignments arriving from outside the EU after the entry summary declaration and presentation notification have been lodged. 

The data contents of the entry summary declarations depend on the mode of transport used. The data requirements for the declarations will also change: the consignor and consignee details are to be provided at house consignment level in the entry summary declaration, and the commodity code at the level of six digits. 

New declaration format to be deployed for air cargo on 1 March 2023

From 1 March 2023, airlines may submit their own partial entry summary declarations. The airline provides the master consignment details in its declaration. The receiving forwarding agency, in turn, submits its own partial entry summary declaration containing house consignment details.  

The following picture shows an example of what entry declarations are to be submitted for air freight.

Changes to entry message numbering, data content requirements and submission of declarations

The EU Commission has also already published message specifications on its website for those messages that are to be deployed later. There will be new entry declaration messages, and the data content of the old messages will change.

The messages are numbered according to their use. Messages beginning with IE3F are entry summary declarations with various data contents that message declarants send to the EU Commission via the CR system. For example, the entry summary declarations for air cargo carry the numbers IE3F20–IE3F29. We will later publish more information on our website about the numbering of messages.

During spring 2022, the data requirements for the entry summary declarations submitted for goods arriving by other means than by air have also been added to the specifications. The data requirements for air cargo and technical message specifications have also been updated.  

You can find the new and updated message specifications on the EU’s CIRCABC website. The message data requirements can be downloaded from the folder “ICS2 Common Functional System Specifications”.

Message declarants must test the new messages

Message declarants must test the new declarations submitted to the Commission in the CR system using test cases provided by the Commission. The customs authority of the Member State that issued the EORI number provides assistance in the testing. The declarations are tested only once, even if consignments arrive in several Member States. Only the presentation notification (FI332A) is to be tested in the system of Finnish Customs. Customs has published the message implementing guidelines for the presentation notification on the site “Message Implementing Guidelines – Entry 1+”.

Temporary storage declaration to replace the summary declaration for goods arriving from another EU country from 5 November 2022

From 5 November 2022, a temporary storage declaration must be submitted to Finnish Customs for goods consignments arriving in Finland from EU airports and ports. In practice, this means that some transport companies must be prepared to submit declarations to two separate systems of Finnish Customs: the Customs Clearance System (UTU) and the Arrival and exit declaration system (AREX). 

More information:

• The message implementing guidelines for entry declarations to be submitted to Finnish Customs (“Message Implementing Guidelines – Entry 1+”)
• The webpage for the second stage of the EU’s safety and security reform involving entry declarations: Import Control System 2 (ICS2) (europa.eu)
• UCC(at)tulli.fi

Notice updated on 22 June 2022 – corrected date of deployment of the new declaration type for air freight is 1 March 2023