How to make an export declaration

The export declaration must be submitted to either of the following customs offices:

• the office in whose area the exporter’s registered office is located
• the 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, 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, you can also lodge the export declaration with the customs office at the place of exit in the last EU country before the goods are taken out of the customs territory of the EU.

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

Postal consignments are consignments that have been handed over for transport by Posti.

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 Posti. Enclose the export accompanying document with the postal parcel. 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 Posti.

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.

Provide one of the following as the procedure code in the export declaration:

• 1007 export of goods from a VAT warehouse or an excise warehouse (both VAT and excise duty unpaid)
• 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 the AAD+ARC and the date.

Read more on the Tax Administration’s website:

• What are excise duties?
• Dispatching products under suspension of excise duty (EMCS, in Finnish)

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 and export accompanying document will be sent.

In the Export Declaration Service, the declaration can only be submitted by an identified declarant.

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

• The declaration code ZPM = monthly periodic local clearance supplementary declaration
• Number of packages 1
• If the commodity code is 2716 00 00, the gross mass is provided as 0,001. Otherwise the gross mass is provided normally.
• Other export date = the last day of the export month
• Location of the goods for inspection, code for the type of location, location qualifier O = geographic location
• The declared place of exit: customs office code FI002002 (Electronic Service Centre, export)
• Inland mode of transport code 7 = Fixed transport equipment (electricity, natural gas)
• Identifier of active means of transport: 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 0,001. The actual net mass is provided is provided for the other commodity codes.
• For the commodity code 2716 00 00 a supplementary quantity and supplementary unit MWH = a thousand kilowatt-hours are declared.
• For the commodity code 2711 21 00 a supplementary quantity and supplementary unit TJO = Terajoule (gross heat value) are declared
• package type: code NE (unpacked)
• Number of pieces = 1
• Marks and numbers on packages are not declared.

You can submit an export declaration with simplified data content for emergency aid goods exported to disaster areas. Provide a national procedure code 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. The export licence must also be presented to Customs on request.

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.
• national procedure code = 7VG emergency aid to disaster 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 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. As the national procedure code for the goods item, enter 7VB (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.

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 declared.
• The status of the goods is indicated in the export declaration by providing the national procedure code 7VF (Goods for diplomatic use or equivalent) in the goods item data.
• In addition, the data on the item to be cleared should include the additional statement code FIXXX (Other additional information) “Diplomatic Mail” or, for consignments to the USA (Los Angeles) and Nigeria (Abuja), “Diplomatic Pouch”.