How to make an export declaration

An export declaration must be made when

You’re not required to make an export declaration for intangible assets and services.

No customs duty or VAT is paid for export goods.

Who submits the export declaration?

The export declaration can be submitted by the exporter or by a representative, such as a forwarding agency, authorised by the exporter.

Proceed as follows

  • An EORI number has been applied for the company from Customs.
  • The mandates needed for making the export declaration have been applied for.
  • The commodity code of the goods has been determined.
  • Any necessary documentation on the origin of the goods and on restrictions has been obtained.

Make the export declaration no later than before the goods have been loaded onto the means of transport.

Submit the export declaration online in the Customs Clearance Service or, if you are a message declarant, via message exchange.

When making an electronic declaration you will only have to visit the customs office if a document needs to be endorsed by Customs.

In certain limited cases, you can make the export declaration orally at a customs office.

Usually, the goods are exported permanently outside the EU. In such cases, you should provide a code beginning with 10 as the customs procedure code in the export declaration.

Other types of export:

In the export declaration, provide the location of the goods at the time of declaration. If you are pre-lodging an export declaration (D or F), provide the location of the goods at the time of presentation. The location of the goods is an important detail, because Customs may inspect the goods. Therefore, the provided location must be a location where Customs can carry out a physical inspection of the goods. 

The transport cannot begin until you receive a decision on release from Customs. Until then, the goods must be in the provided location.

An address is usually provided as the location (code D). In the Customs Clearance Service, the qualifier of location is Z. Enter the exact street address where the goods are located. The name of the town/city (e.g. Rauma, Vantaa) alone is not an acceptable location, because Customs is not able to direct an inspection of the goods based on the name of a place alone. 

If you are submitting a declaration for re-export from a customs warehouse (procedure 3171), provide “Approved place” (code C) as the location. In the Customs Clearance Service, the qualifier of location is Y. As the authorisation number, enter the number of the number of the customs warehousing authorisation. Under “Identification of warehouse”, provide the warehouse ID in the format “EORI+3+2” (e.g. FI1234567-800101).

If the export goods are in a temporary storage facility, you can use the type of location “Approved place” (code C). The qualifier of location can be either "X ‒ Identification of warehouse” or "Z ‒ Street address". 

In export, the type of location “Designated location” (code A) is only used in particular situations. 

When customs has processed the declaration,

  • you will receive a decision on release for the goods with a reference number, MRN, that identifies the export declaration. To facilitate the exit of the goods, the carrier can present the decision on release containing a bar code at the last customs office before the goods exit the customs or fiscal territory of the EU.

When customs has confirmed the exit of the goods, you will receive a decision on release with certification of exit. Users of the Customs Clearance Service can retrieve it form the service.

Message declarants will receive it automatically via message exchange. 

You must archive the decision on release with certification of exit as proof of the VAT-free sale.

Points to consider

Release decisions have replaced Export Accompanying Documents (EADs)

As of the renewal of export declarations on 5 October 2024, Finnish Customs no longer generates EADs for customers with regard to export declarations. EADs are relinquished in line with general EU policies. When needed, exporters can submit release decisions to subsequent supply chain operators instead of EADs.

We recommend that you read our customer notices on the topic.

Message declarant: remember security indicators in your export declarations

When you export goods outside the EU, be sure to indicate the countries of export and destination, as well as the freight payment method in your export declaration. In addition, message declarants are required to indicate “2” as the security indicator value in export declarations. Without this information, transports of export goods can stay at the place of exit until security data are provided for them on a separate exit summary declaration.

Read more in our customer notice of 9 October: The country of export and the country of destination must be provided as routing countries in export declarations

 

The export declaration must be submitted to 

  • the customs office in whose area the exporter’s registered office is located or
  • the customs office in whose area the goods are loaded or packaged for export. 

The goods must be available for inspection in the country of export, that is, in the country where you lodge the export declaration. If you lodge the declaration online, that customs office in Finland is the Electronic Service Centre of Customs (FI002002), where all electronic export declarations are processed.

If the value of the export goods is no higher than 3 000 euros, and the goods are not subject to any export prohibitions or restrictions, the export declaration can be lodged in the last EU country with the customs office at the place of exit before the goods are taken out of the customs territory of the Union.

You can only submit the export declaration for goods located in Finland.

Check how export declarations are submitted for the following goods

Postal consignments are consignments that have been handed over for transport by a Finnish postal operator.

An electronic export declaration must be lodged for postal parcels worth more than 1 000 euros. For postal parcels of lower value, an electronic export declaration is required in the following cases:

  • The goods are subject to export prohibitions or restrictions.
  • The export declaration concerns a special procedure (e.g. when exporting goods for repair or when goods are repaired in Finland and then sent back).
  • You’re exporting goods outside the EU under excise duty suspension.

Submit the export declaration before handing over the parcel to a Finnish postal operator. Print out the decision on release and attach it to the parcel so that the barcode is shown. When the goods have exited the EU, customs will issue a decision on release with certification of exit electronically.

When sending postal consignments that are worth 1 000 euros or less, you should attach either customs declaration CN22 or CN23, which are available from the postal operator.

Read more in Posti’s guidance.

If an authorised warehouse keeper exports products subject to harmonised excise duty outside the EU, an electronic administrative document (e-AD) must be created for the products in the Excise Movement Control System (EMCS). EMCS then generates an administrative reference code (ARC) for the shipment. The electronic export declaration is submitted after this.

As the procedure code in the export declaration, provide

  • 1007 export of goods from a VAT warehouse or an excise warehouse (both VAT and excise duty unpaid) or
  • 1045 export of goods from a VAT warehouse or an excise warehouse (either VAT or excise duty unpaid).

When you export goods under suspension of excise duty from the EU, VAT is always unpaid, which means that the goods always leave a VAT warehouse. The difference between the two alternative procedure codes above is whether VAT has been paid or not.

As the previous document code in the export declaration, enter C651+ARC and the goods item sequence number. Message declarants should enter the goods item sequence number of the excise administrative document under “Previous document, Goods item identifier”. In the Customs Clearance Service, it should be entered at goods item level, under “Previous documents” in the field “Item”. 

If the goods are under excise duty suspension, simplification of a single transport contract can’t be requested for the export of these goods. The office of exit can’t be brought forward to Finland, if the goods exit via another EU country. The export goods can, however, be transferred to the external transit procedure, and the goods can exit the EU under transit.

In addition, the simplified declaration procedure, that is, two-stage export declaration, can’t be used for exports of goods that are under excise duty suspension. If the previous document is an excise administrative document (C651), a standard export declaration with full details must always be submitted for the goods.

Read more on the Tax Administration’s website:

When exporting goods in pipelines, the export declaration is submitted retrospectively one calendar month at a time. Submit the declaration after the month has ended, no later than by the 10th day of the following month. Only the decision on release with certification of exit will be sent to the exporter. No decision on release will be sent.

In addition to other declaration details, the following details and codes are to be provided:

  • Select declaration FI595 for goods in pipelines.
  • Provide the consignee at goods item level.
  • Packages of goods are not provided.
  • As the actual date of export, provide the last day of the month of export.
  • The declared office of exit: customs office code FI002002 (Electronic Service Centre, export)
  • Mode of transport at the border: code 7
  • The declaration concerns commodity code 2716 00 00 (electrical energy), 2711 21 00 (natural gas) or 3825 20 00 (sewage sludge) 
  • If the commodity code is 2716 00 00, the net mass is not provided. The actual net mass is provided is provided for the other commodity codes.
  • For the commodity code 2716 00 00, provide the supplementary quantity and the supplementary unit MWH = 1000 kilowatt hours.
  • For the commodity code 2711 21 00, provide the supplementary quantity and the supplementary unit TJO = Terajoule (gross calorific value).
  • Marks and numbers on packages, kind of packages or number of pieces are not provided.

You can submit an export declaration with simplified data content for emergency aid goods exported to disaster areas. An additional procedure code is provided to indicate that the consignment contains emergency aid goods. You can declare the emergency aid goods in one goods item using the commodity code 9919 00 00 (goods for charitable or philanthropic organisations and goods for the benefit of disaster victims). The exported goods should be listed in a separate loading list that must be presented to customs on request.

If the emergency aid goods contain goods that require an export licence, you should declare these goods as a separate goods item with exact commodity code and licence number. You may have to present the export licence to customs. 

In addition to the other declaration data, provide the following details and codes:

  • additional document = 2270 Loading list
  • value-related additional document = e.g. N325 proforma invoice.
  • additional procedure code = 685 Emergency relief to catastrophe areas
  • nature of transaction = 34 consignments free of charge

Humanitarian aid, development aid or reconstruction of disaster areas is not regarded as export of emergency aid, so a normal export declaration must be lodged for such aid consignments. See the definition: definition of humanitarian aid (um.fi).

The exporter of the emergency aid consignment must be established within the EU. The exporter can be a business, an association, a foundation, an organisation or a private individual.

The goods in the emergency aid consignment must be given free of charge directly for the benefit of the disaster victims or to an organisation in the disaster area that will supply the aid free of charge to the disaster victims.

Military products or products delivered to soldiers are not emergency aid exports even if they are given free of charge.

Goods that are of low value or free of charge are also entered in the export declaration according to commodity code as separate goods items regardless of their statistical value.

Provide the nature of transaction using a code that applies to the whole export declaration. If the goods included in the export declaration are all free of charge, the nature of transaction is 34 (consignments free of charge).

You can use the same export declaration to declare both goods subject to a charge and goods free of charge if the non-commercial goods item that is free of charge consists of advertising material, commercial samples or other goods exported for marketing purposes. In that case, you should enter 11 (sale) as the nature of transaction code for the whole consignment even though it also contains goods that are free of charge. The additional procedure code to be provided for the goods item is “681 – Non-commercial goods, e.g. advertisement material”.

The customs formalities that apply when transporting goods belonging to diplomatic personnel are performed in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. A consignment is a diplomatic consignment only if it has the so-called “French paper” certified by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This means that the personal effects of an embassy employee aren’t automatically diplomatic consignments. Instead, the goods must be covered by a document in accordance with the Vienna Convention. 

Submit an electronic export declaration for diplomatic goods transported as freight. Export declarations are not required for goods carried personally by members of diplomatic personnel.

  • Material consignments under diplomatic immunity can be classified under one commodity code; 9905 00 00.
  • The nominal value of the goods is provided as the value of the goods.
  • The status of the goods is indicated in the export declaration by providing the additional procedure code 684 (Goods for diplomatic use or equivalent) in the goods item details.
  • In addition, the declaration header details should include the additional information code FIXXX (Other additional information) “Diplomatic Mail” or, for consignments to the USA (Los Angeles) and Nigeria (Abuja), “Diplomatic Pouch”.

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