EU-wide guarantee

An EU-wide guarantee may be used in more than one Member State. A guarantee can be lodged in Finland and used for customs clearances in EU countries where the guarantee is valid. Correspondingly, a guarantee can be lodged in some other EU country and used for customs clearances in Finland.

An EU-wide guarantee can be granted for import, special procedures, transit and temporary warehousing.

According to the Union Customs Code, an EU-wide guarantee must cover the amount of an incurred or possibly incurred customs debt, as well as other charges to be levied in connection with import.

Both the customer company and Customs must ensure the sufficiency of the guarantee/reference amount. If the guarantee amount turns out to be insufficient, the company must contact Customs.

Points to consider

Real-time guarantee reservations from other Member States are not currently used for EU-wide import debt guarantees. Guarantee amounts required by other Member States are reserved in fixed amounts from the comprehensive guarantee issued to Finland. Customs clearances conducted in Finland are processed in the same way as national customs clearances.

According to the Union Customs Code, authorised economic operators (AEOs) are entitled to reductions of guarantees required for customs debt and other charges.

EU-wide guarantee for debt in different guarantee categories:

Release into free circulation

Guarantee category

Customs duty VAT
AEOC AB 30 % 30 %
Others AA 100 % 100 %

An EU-wide liability guarantee can be used in transit, warehousing and other special import procedures.

According to the Union Customs Code, when a company meets certain preconditions, a reduction can be granted for any possibly incurred customs debts and other payments, or the company may be exempt from lodging a guarantee. The customer must not have a record of any serious payment disruptions or credit malfunctions (e.g. bankruptcy, reorganisation or distraint). In addition, the customer must meet the general requirements relating to comprehensive guarantees, as well as the specific requirements based on guarantee category.

When determining the amount of liability guarantee, customers are placed into guarantee categories based on their solidity and payment behaviour. Companies must meet requirements specific to the different guarantee categories, for example relating to accounts and in-house control. In guarantee categories BD, BC and BB, customers must also have sufficient funds in relation to the reference amount.

EU-wide guarantee for liability in different guarantee categories:

Guarantee category BD BC BB BA

Customs duty and excise duty

0 %

30 %

50 %

100 %

VAT

0 %

30 %

50 %

100 %

Warehousing, specific use and processing

EU-wide liability guarantees do not presently involve real-time guarantee reservations for warehousing, special use (temporary admission and specific use) and processing (inward and outward processing). Guarantees required by other Member States are reserved in fixed amounts from the comprehensive guarantee issued to Finland. Procedures started in Finland (except storage) are handled in the same way as national customs clearances.

Transit

When Customs determines guarantees for transit, the transit reference amount, i.e. the maximum amount of open tax liability (customs duties, VAT and excise duties), is taken into account according to guarantee category. A transit guarantee is reserved when starting a procedure and it is released when the transit goods have arrived at their destination. Transit liability is released only when the transit is concluded.

The customer must ensure and monitor that the amount of customs duties and taxes relating to open transits does not exceed the reference amount.