Split exportation

Split of an export consignment means that goods declared in one export declaration can be divided into separate movements of goods that are exported from the EU exported at different times either via the same office of exit or via several different offices of exit. The following requirements must be met when an export consignment is split:

  • export goods are to leave the customs territory of the Union in the same condition as when the export declaration was accepted.
  • export goods must be under customs supervision, and customs authorities must have the possibility of inspecting the goods
  • the goods must be transported along the route prescribed by the customs authorities and in compliance with the rules confirmed by the customs authorities.

Customs requires that the splitting be carried out in stationary storage facilities which have been approved by Customs for these purposes. A power of attorney provided by the party responsible for the export procedure must be presented at request to Customs for the splitting of the consignment. Customs must also be notified of the consignment split. The split of an export consignment is supervised by the customs office where the export declaration for the split is presented for the first time. 

Goods which have been placed under the export procedure as a single consignment in Finland, or which have arrived in Finland as a single consignment, may be exported out of the Community customs territory as split consignments only by truck. Only whole, undivided export consignments may be exported by passenger car or by van.

Conditions for split exportation

Splitting of export consignments is allowed only if the following conditions are met:

  • The splitting of the whole item to be cleared takes place in a Customs-approved storage facility or storage area used for re-loading and handling of goods, where Customs can, when necessary, supervise the consignment splitting.
  • The warehouse operator divides the splits into transport units and presents the original export accompanying document and the copies of the accompanying documents for each split to the supervising customs office.
  • The identification data of the transport unit (vehicle registration number or container number) must be entered in the copy of the accompanying document for each split. A split consignment leaving the EU by road must be transported by truck.
  • It is the responsibility of the warehouse operator to present the copy of the accompanying document for the loaded split consignment to the office of exit.
  • After the final split consignment of the item to be cleared has left the EU, the warehouse keeper sees to it that the original export accompanying document and all copies – Customs-stamped as exit confirmed – of the accompanying documents for the split consignments are presented in compiled form to the customs office that supervises the consignment split for the confirmation of the final exit of the consignment to be cleared. 

If the rules and conditions for splitting consignments are not complied with, Customs may impose a penalty fee.

Points to consider

Customs may approve for consignment splitting purposes any stationary storage facilities intended for storage of goods where goods can be loaded and unloaded.

For a warehouse to be approved for consignment splitting, it must have stock records of incoming and outgoing goods. It does not, however, need to be authorised by Customs as a temporary storage facility or a customs warehouse, and it does not need to have a warehouse ID (“R” suffix) provided by Customs.

Customs approves a storage facility for consignment splitting purposes by approving the first consignment splitting carried out in that facility; a separate written permit is not needed. Prior to splitting, the warehouse keeper must contact the supervising customs office.    

Transfer of split consignments between warehouses

If the item to be cleared (other than split consignments that already left) contains goods to be transferred from the warehouse where the goods became split to another warehouse approved by Customs, an authorisation must be obtained from the supervising customs office. In connection with transfer, a copy of the accompanying document of the split consignment stamped by Customs must be presented. The transferred goods must be entered in the stock records of both warehouses.

The warehouse where the goods were split is responsible for the consolidation of splits and presentation to the supervising customs office.

Split consignments can be formed in the following ways:

  1. A copy of the export accompanying document (EAD) with required split entry, i.e. split EAD, must be presented to Customs when goods are carried under the export procedure by road to the customs office of exit.
  2. A split EAD and an electronic transit declaration with an entry on the splitting must be presented to Customs when the goods are placed under the transit procedure (TIR carnet or transit procedure T2) for carriage to the office of exit from the EU.
  3. An exit manifest presentation with an entry on the splitting is to be submitted to the AREX system of Customs when the splitting of the consignment is carried out at a customs office of exit for sea, air or rail traffic.

The first two procedures (so-called manual splitting) require transactions at a customs office. A split item can also be presented at an office of exit, provided that the conditions for split exportation are satisfied. In such a case, the storage facility approved by Customs for consignment splitting must be located in the area of the customs office of exit.

  • The operator responsible for the manual splitting must always present a separate, final consolidation of the split consignments to the supervising customs office after the exit of the final goods item.
  • If the splitting of the consignment has been initiated by submitting an exit manifest presentation to the AREX system, but parts of the subsequent split consignments are transported using another mode of transport, a manual splitting must be started. In such cases, the splitting is supervised by the customs office supervising the place of exit for sea, rail or air traffic.
  • If the goods have been released for export using the fallback procedure, the copies of the export fallback procedure forms will be used for the splitting instead of the copy of the EAD. 
  • In manual splitting, the split consignment and the split EAD created for it are to be presented when leaving the EU to the office of exit, which will confirm the exit by stamping the split EAD.
  • If the split consignment is placed under the transit procedure, individual splits and split EADs are to be presented to the transit office of departure. In such cases, the exit of an individual split is confirmed in the transit and export systems when the transit declaration is presented to the transit office of destination. 
  • In manual splitting, the exit of the original split export declaration is, however, confirmed by Customs manually based on the final consolidation presented. 

When the splitting is carried out merely based on the data on the exit manifest presentation submitted to the AREX system, the exit of an individual consignment is confirmed when an exit notification is also submitted to the AREX system.

  • The exit of the original split export declaration is confirmed by a customs official after the export system has received from the AREX system information on the exit (the exit notification has been submitted successfully for the exit manifest presentation in which the exit of the last split is confirmed).

Split of an export consignment must be declared to Customs by presenting for the exportation of the first split the original EAD and, later for the exportation of each split, the split EAD. 

Prior to split of a consignment, customers must contact Customs to ensure that the export goods have been declared into the export system of Finnish Customs, and that the export item is in the correct state (“released for export” or “arrived at exit”).

If the package units declared on the original EAD are split into smaller parts, this must be marked clearly on the original EAD, for example, “24 pallets = 285 cartons” containing the data on the person making the entry (company/person).

The person responsible for the split must monitor in real time the quantity of exported and remaining goods. For instance, entries concerning split consignments made by customers in chronological order on the reverse side of the EAD can be regarded as monitoring measures.

The person responsible for the splitting must make an entry of the splitting on the front side of the EAD. The split EAD must clearly indicate which commodity code the splitting covers. The address of the warehouse used for splitting (and possible warehouse identification code), date of departing item, number of packages, gross mass in kilograms, details of the means of transport (vehicle registration number) and, for TIR movements, the TIR carnet number must also be declared. 

If an individual split is exported from a place other than the warehouse used for consignment splitting, a permit to transfer a split consignment from one warehouse to another must be requested from the supervising customs office by providing the location of the other warehouse on the split EAD.                                         

In connection with the export of each split consignment, Customs verifies the authenticity of the split EAD presented by the customer containing the required markings.

The split EAD and the export goods are presented at the customs office of exit, where the exit of the consignment is confirmed manually by making an entry into the system and adding a date stamp on the reverse side of the split EAD. For TIR movements, the exit confirmation is sent directly in electronic format from the transit system to the export system.

The split EADs with exit confirmation are given to the customer who must keep them for the final consolidation.

The previous procedure and the splitting data are entered on the electronic transit declaration in accordance with Customs circular 68/010/11 of 11 May 2011 (in Finnish).

When the consignment declared on the original EAD has been split entirely, the customers are to present the final compilation, i.e. the original EAD, the monitoring data on the split consignments and the split EADs verified by Customs to the customs office supervising the split.

Customs checks the documents and compares the markings to the entries in the export system. Based on this information, Customs confirms the exit of the export goods in the export system. Customs returns the original EADs to the customer. The stock records of the warehouse used for splitting must contain at least the split EADs of each split verified by the customs office of exit.

You should scan the EAD copies and send them to a separately determined customs office supervising the split. In addition to the entries on the splitting, the copy must contain information on the exact location of the goods.

The customs office supervising sends a reply when the goods are clear for exit. After this, the customer can go directly to the border customs office to present the split item and the split EAD. For the final consolidation, the customer sends the scanned original EAD, entries relating to the split follow-up and split EADs confirmed by Customs to the customs office supervising the split. If the quantities match, the customs office confirms the exit.