Online services terms of use

Purpose of the Service

The service Customs Online Services contains a web-based user interface as well as general information on the service. The service is aimed at persons and organisations that wish to use electronic services to lodge their customs declarations. 

The services (hereinafter ‘Service’) referred to in these general terms of use and in the more detailed service-specific terms of use are public and owned by Customs. The services are free of charge.

In addition to these terms of use, the Act on Electronic Services and Communication in the Public Sector (13/2003) and the Act on the Provision of Digital Services (306/2019) with later amendments are applied to the use of the Service. Also applicable to the use of the Service are the Customs Code (Regulation No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Customs Code), the Customs Act of Finland with amendments, as well as any decisions on electronic declarations and procedures issued by Customs based on these legal acts.

Parties of the Service

The Service is provided by Customs. 

The user of the Service refers to a user who has approved these terms of use and who uses the Service. 

When starting to use the Service, the user must at the same time accept these terms of use as binding.

The users of the Service are responsible for the correctness of the information provided through the Service as well as the correctness, format and integrity of the submitted appendices.
Customs is not responsible for the correctness, format or integrity of information provided by a third party.

Purpose of the terms of use

These terms of use regulate the tasks, rights and obligations of the parties using the Service. 

Separate conditions are applied regarding each online service insofar as they differ from these terms of use. Service-specific terms of use can be found below.

Electronic notification

Customs sends the user notifications to the e-service if the user has consented to receiving electronic notifications. The user consents to receiving electronic notifications when logging in to the service for the first time. This consent concerns the Import Declaration Service for private persons, the Authorisation Service, the Intrastat Declaration Service, the Customs Clearance Service and the services Applying for a message exchange authorisation and Applying for an EORI number. The consent includes customs clearance decisions, authorisation decisions, requests for additional information and requests for statistical information produced in these services.

If the user does not consent to the electronic notification when logging in to the e-service, the attempted login will be unsuccessful. Giving consent concerns specific transactions, such as applying for authorisations or submitting a customs declaration. Data on customer consent is stored in the browser cookies, which means that consent is not requested again when the customer logs in the next time. Consent is requested again for the next transaction if the customer clears the browser cookies or uses another browser. 

Despite giving consent when logging in, a private customer can alter their consent at a later stage of the transaction. Instead of e-services, you can also use alternative transaction methods. 

In all document types, electronic notifications are obligatory for economic operators (business operators or corporate customers), apart from notifications relating to EORI registration. An electronic notification is obligatory when notifying parties other than economic operators (private customers not transacting for business purposes) about the amount of customs duty imposed.

If you have submitted an electronic import declaration as a private customer, but you do not want to receive electronic notifications, please contact our customs clearance support at tulliselvitystuki(at)tulli.fi. In your message, include the reference number of your customs clearance. Note that if you change your method of providing information and continue your transactions in some other way besides e-services, you will receive your notification by mail, which naturally takes longer. Your transport company may have determined a time limit for your customs clearance, after which the consignment will be returned to the sender. Be sure to check the time limit in the arrival notification from your transport company.

Notification on the amount of customs duty

A user of online services is notified about the prescribed amount of customs duty when the document is retrieved from the location given by the authority, that is, from a server, database or some other file. 

Notification on another matter besides the amount of customs duty

Verifiable notification

A document is deemed as being served when it is retrieved from the location given by the authority, that is, from a server, database or some other file. If a document is not retrieved within seven days of the notification by the authority, the notification will be sent by mail in return for acknowledgment of receipt.

Standard notification

Unless indicated otherwise, a document is deemed as being served on the third day following the sending of the message.

The user’s obligations and liability

The user may be held liable for illegal use of the Service or for violating these terms of use.

The user of the Service is obliged to observe the terms and conditions set for the use of the Service by the party that issued the electronic IDs, e.g. a bank or the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Customs is not liable for any errors or misuse due to careless use or safekeeping of the IDs.

If the user’s IDs or means of payment end up in the possession of a third party or are lost, the user must immediately notify the organisation that granted these means. If the user neglects this obligation to notify, they will be held liable for any damages caused by the misuse of Customs’ online services.

Unrelated messages or messages that may unnecessarily overload the Service or compromise the data security of the Service must not be sent to the Service.

The user may not submit any misleading information to Customs via the Service.

The user is responsible for the data security of their own data and for the data security of the systems and connections they use.

The user is responsible for the technical functionality of the devices and software as well as for the connections for communication and data they use with the Service. 
The user is responsible for ensuring that they will not use the Service to send Customs materials that infringe on copyrights or good practice or that violate the law or the regulations of the authorities.

Foreign companies must submit the following information to Customs before starting to use the online services: the company’s EORI number, the business ID registered for the company in the national authorisation register of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, and information about the company’s contact person. In cases where statistical declarations on intra-EU trade (Intrastat) are lodged and the foreign company acts as a representative, the company must provide Customs with its contact information and the VAT number registered for the company in the national authorisation register of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency before using the online service.

Customs’ obligations and liability

A message, declaration or application sent through the Service is regarded as received by Customs when it is available for the authority’s use in a reception device or data system in such a way that the message can be processed.

Customs is responsible for the data security of the Service and for the systems used in the production of the Service.

If personal data is collected in the Service, a statement showing the saved data and their intended use has been drawn up in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

All collected data is stored, processed and removed in accordance with current legislation.

All collected data is stored, handled and removed in accordance with current legislation. More information on Customs’ data protection policy for users of the Service.

Customs reserves the right, without prior notice, to change the layout, the content, the availability and the services of the Service, or to withdraw the Service.

Customs is not liable for any loss of data or delays caused by interruptions or disruptions in the system and will not compensate the customer for any inconvenience, costs or indirect damages caused by interruptions in the Service.

Customs is not responsible for services that are maintained by third parties and used via the Service, nor for the contents or functionality of such services. 

Service interruptions

Customs has the right to suspend the provision of the Service during times when it is being serviced or updated. Customs informs well in advance of any disruptions or interruptions to the Service or of withdrawal of the Service.

Force majeure

A force majeure event beyond Customs’ control (such as a labour conflict, fire, natural catastrophe, disturbance in data transmission, an order by an authority) releases Customs from the liability of complying with these terms of use until the conditions for fulfilment of the obligations can be restored.

Changing the terms of use

Customs has the right to change the terms of use. The new terms of use will enter into force when they are published in the online service.

Other service alternatives

If the user of the Service does not accept these terms of use or the use of cookies, the user’s communication will be interrupted and the user of the Service will be directed to use other service channels.

If the user of the Service does not consent to receiving electronic notifications, the user’s communication will be interrupted and the user of the Service will be directed to use alternative service channels.

Website analytics, development and cookies

This website uses cookies that enable the gathering of statistics on visitor numbers and cookies that are necessary in terms of the technical functionality of the website. The use of cookies ensures the usability, functionality and further development of the website and the services contained on it. The information gathered using cookies is not used to identify an individual user, and the visitor statistics are not sent to third parties. Users of the website can disable the use of cookies in their browser. The e-services cannot be used if the user disables all cookies in the browser. Disabling third-party cookies does not prevent the use of the e-services.  

If you accept all cookies, you will support the development of this website through the following functions:

The Snoobi Analytics service is used for analysing site usage and for developing the website. The information comprises identification data on the visitor’s web browser, the use of the website, the operating system and screen resolution, and the IP address of the user, as well as data on the address from which the visitor navigated to the website. The IP address is stored in an anonymised form, which prevents identification of an individual user. You will find more information on how the service works on Snoobi’s website. Customs has made an agreement with the provider of the analytics service on the processing of this data.

If you accept only the necessary cookies, you are disabling the analytics service described above during your visit to the website. Necessary cookies are those essential for the technical functionality of the website.

Saving and changing cookie preferences

There are two types of cookies used on the website: session cookies and tracking cookies. Session cookies are temporarily stored in the browser’s memory and expire as the user closes the browser. Tracking cookies are saved for a specific time.

A cookie is a small text file that the network server may save on the visitor’s computer. The cookies do not damage the user’s computer or files. The purpose of the cookies is to facilitate the use of the service, and some services require the use of cookies in order to function properly.

Necessary cookies

Onboarding: The cookie is used to identify if the instructions for the Import Declaration Service for private persons have been shown. The cookie is valid for one month.

SessionToken: The cookie is used as an identifier for the user’s session. The cookie is valid for the maximum duration of a logged-in user’s session.

Locale: The cookie is used when selecting the language for the user interface. The cookie is valid until further notice.

AcceptedTerms: The cookie is used to identify if the user has accepted the terms of use. The cookie is valid until further notice.

CookieMode: The cookie contains data indicating that the user has made a selection on accepted cookies in the cookie banner. In addition, the cookie identifies which cookies the user has accepted. The cookie is valid until further notice.

AcceptedCookieNotice: The cookie is used to identify what version of the cookie notice the user has accepted. The cookie is valid until further notice. 

Non-essential cookies

Snoobi Analytics visitor tracking

SnoobiID: The visitor tracking cookie registers a unique ID for the user. The cookie is valid for two years.

Snoobi30minute_asiointi_tulli_fi: The visitor tracking cookie combines the data of visits if the user exits and then returns to the website within half an hour. The cookie is valid for 30 minutes.

Snoobisession_asiointi_tulli_fi: The visitor tracking cookie stores the data on the visit until the user leaves the website. The cookie is valid for the duration of the visit.

”Session storage __snbref: The visitor tracking cookie stores the information about the website that linked the user coming to the website. The stored information always disappears at the end of the session, for example when the user closes the tab or the browser.”

Elisa Chat

Elisa Oyj’s Elisa Chat and Chatbot service that collect cookies are used on the website. Cookies are used to facilitate the use of the services, to ensure the functionality and security of the activity, for the analysis of the usability, for the development of the services and the unique customer experience.

Non-essential cookies are used e.g. for showing discussion contents when the network connection is down or when automatic functions take place. All Elisa Chat cookies are valid for 8 hours. An exception is the cookie (<CHAT_ID>lz_ph<#>), which is used to identify how many times the visitor has visited the website. The cookie is valid permanently.

You can manage your cookies in your browser settings. You can find instructions on how to manage cookies in the most commonly used browsers on the following pages:

Mozilla Firefox

Google Chrome

Service-specific terms of use

Additional conditions for the Import Declaration Service for private persons

The Import Declaration Service for private persons uses information submitted by the transport company as basic information for the customs declaration.

In the Import Declaration Service, you can search for the most commonly declared goods. The goods found in the search and their respective commodity codes are only meant to be used by private individuals in this service, not by businesses for imports or exports or in any other contexts. Customs is not responsible for the correctness of the commodity codes of goods found using the search of the most commonly declared goods. If needed, the Customs Information Service can help you in determining the correct commodity code.

Payment Service Provider

Paytrail Oyj is a collecting payment service provider and an authorized Payment Institution working in cooperation with Finnish banks and credit institutions. Paytrail Oyj will be shown as the recipient on your bank or credit card statement. Paytrail Oyj will forward the payment to the merchant. For complaints, please contact the website the payment was made to.

When you use Paytrail, you permit us to use your information in accordance with our privacy statement.

Paytrail Oyj
Innova 2
Lutakonaukio 7
40100 Jyväskylä
Phone: +358 207 181 830
Business ID 2122839-7
www.paytrail.com

Online banking

You can use all Finnish banks with either the eBanking interfaces or open banking interfaces offered by the banks.

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