Efficient interactions and fair competitive conditions

By developing our customer services, we promote equal opportunities for international traders and citizens to interact with us. Our easy-to-use digital services promote tax compliance, reduce the carbon footprint from our customers’ movements and streamline our services by enabling customers to interact with us independently without needing to contact us. Through proactive advice, we offer information about our services and any changes, as well as instruct people on what to do. This saves time and money and avoids follow-up work.

We handle customs clearance and control duties without unnecessarily hampering the flow of goods. We grant permits to reliable companies to allow for more efficient customs clearance processes. These trusted partners contribute to the security of the supply chain. Our control supports fair competition and the accuracy of customs clearance, as well as uncovers tax fraud.
We compile official statistics on Finland’s international trade to be used as the basis for information-driven decision-making through an efficient and automated digital process. We simultaneously ensure appropriate and secure data processing and high quality of data. We are committed to compliance with international ethical standards in all aspects of foreign trade statistics.

Our operational development is reflected in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index, which ranked Finland in shared 4th place out of 139 countries for the efficiency of customs and clearance operations. In the overall logistics performance index, Finland placed second out of the 139 countries. You can read more about the index in our press release.

Finnish Customs is streamlining customs services by actions such as easier access to information for personal customers via the Customs duty calculator. The calculator allows personal customers to estimate how much value-added tax and customs duties they would have to pay when ordering something from outside the EU. In 2023, a product safety feature was added to the calculator. In certain high-risk categories, the calculator reminds the consumer that when they buy a product from outside the EU, it is at their own risk, as the safety of the product may not have been checked by any EU authority. For products in the high-risk category, the consumer can also easily navigate to the website of the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) for more information about the product category. The feature is designed to raise consumer awareness of product safety. In addition, the Tukes materials can raise awareness of the risks of discount purchases and encourage more informed purchasing decisions.

Additional information about products in different risk categories (Tukes)

In spring 2023, we wanted to try a new approach to the resolution of challenging customer situations. Submitted via the initiative channel, the idea was to boost inclusion with customers in interactions where communication is difficult. Even if the customs officials and the customer do not speak a common language or the customer has difficulty speaking or understanding speech, we aim to communicate as clearly as possible why we are taking the customer’s goods and what will happen to them.

Through a new form of collaboration with the Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, we built a visual communication aid to help customs officials in their customer service work when controlling meat and dairy products. Experiments confirmed that the visual tool is functional and useful in challenging interactions, and it is in constant use by Finnish Customs at Helsinki Airport and maritime customs sites. The experiment also led to a more extensive further development project to cater to the needs of special groups at airports.

Our aim with communication is to familiarise citizens and companies with customs practices and instruct them on what to do. We anticipate different times and seasons of certain customer behaviour which involve the need for guidance. In 2023, we published 89 press releases and 51 online news stories, articles and blog posts. We invest in the clarity and accessibility of our communications: our editors ensure that our texts and instructions for different target groups are clear and easy to understand. We also assist customers through social media, providing content that guides citizens and advises customers on common customs clearance issues. We aim to build trust among citizens through clear and open communication.

Do I need a customs clearance?

In late 2023, we wanted to remind citizens of the potential need for customs clearance of products ordered from outside the EU and the total cost of online shopping. The shopping and discount season towards the end of the year attracts many people, leading to peak online shopping volumes. Our campaign emphasised the customer’s responsibility when shopping online: they must find out in advance where the goods will be sent from, whether customs clearance will be required and which fees will be levied on top of the price of the product. We directed campaign visitors to the Customs duty calculator, which allows customers to estimate the customs duties and VAT payable on a product. The Customs duty calculator also provides a host of other information related to online shopping. The campaign was primarily targeted at young adults, and we succeeded in reaching a large number of them during the hectic season.

Customer advice figures

Customer bulletins

101

Customer guides

173

Company-specific advice

204

Questions answered by email

12 575

Phone calls for customs advice and support in making customs declarations

76 997

Chats

6 261

The Tax Collection function aims to provide services that are easy to use and guide people to do the right thing. We aim to enhance the customer experience when we develop these services. In 2023, Finnish Customs levied approximately EUR 308 million in taxes, and the tax arrears rate was 0.29%. This indicates that customers want to comply with tax laws and that Finnish Customs’ taxation and collection operations are effective.

Compliance among permit customers served by Finnish Customs is promoted using an incentivising procedural assessment tool that mirrors the customer’s positive attitude towards customs operations. The goal is to target Finnish Customs’ auditing resources towards higher-risk customers with the lowest scores.

Follow-up inspections after customs clearance ensure the accuracy of customs clearance while promoting and ensuring smooth foreign trade and equal competitive conditions for operators. Approximately EUR 3.3 million of additional customs duties and taxes were levied as a result of measures proposed on the basis of inspections. Without these measures, companies would have gained an unfair competitive advantage, the EU would have lost internal assets and the Finnish government would have missed out on tax revenue.

Foreign trade statistics played a key role in the preparation and monitoring of the EU’s sanctions against Russia in 2022 and 2023. Finnish Customs’ Statistical Director has shared the latest foreign trade and sanctions statistics publicly and proactively with customs. For example, the following press releases and blogs were published in 2023: