Publicity of information and documents

According to the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities, documents are public unless otherwise classified as confidential. Moreover, everyone has the right to obtain information on documents concerning them. You can obtain information by personally searching them in Customs’ transaction services, or by submitting a written request for information to the Customs Registry Office. 

A collection of information and information materials assembled for a specific purpose is referred to as an information pool. 

Customs-maintained information pools that contain public information are presented according to topic on their specific pages.

List of information pools (in Finnish)

• Customer service information
• Administrative information
• Personnel information
• Training information
• Statements
• Authorisation Service information
• Economic and finance information
• Statistical information
• Customs clearance information

Who can obtain information?

Anyone can have access to public documents. However, most Customs documents are partly or entirely confidential. If a document is confidential, you can ask Customs if you have the right to obtain the information therein. The right to access information is decided on individually in each case.

Instructions for submitting a request for information

You can submit a free-form request for information by email or post. In your request, you should specify the information needed to recognise the document you need, such as a personal ID number or business ID, as well as a transaction number, record number or case number. 

Send your request to the Customs Registry Office:

• by email to kirjaamo@tulli.fi, or
• by letter to PL 512, 00101 Helsinki.

If the document is public, you do not need to identify yourself for your request for information. If you however request information regarding a confidential document, you must prove your identity in order to access the information. In such a case, you must visit a customs office to show valid proof of identity. See the list of customs offices that offer customer service.

Details of a company’s customs declarations

If you need details of a company’s customs declarations, use a form to request them from Customs. See the detailed instructions for using the form.

You can only request a company’s customs clearance information using the form. You cannot use the form to request any other information from Customs. 

Other things to note

Customs will charge a fee accordant with the Finnish Act on Criteria for Charges Payable to the State. Read more about fees charged.

Note that a request for information is a different from the right of a registered party to access personal data held about them as specified in the EU General Data Protection Regulation. More information on this particular right is contained in the Customs privacy statement.