Declaration details of goods released for the procedure can be amended
If you notice an error in the customs declaration after you have received a release decision concerning customs warehousing, you may apply for amendment after release. Amendment after release can be applied for by the declarant or the declarant’s representative. Customs can also amend the declaration after release on its own initiative.
Almost all details in the customs declaration can be amended after release. If you have lodged the customs declaration with a message, submit the request for amendment after release with a message as well. If you have lodged the customs declaration via Customs’ online service, make the request for amendment after release in the online service. You can apply for amendment after release within three years from the acceptance date of the declaration. Apply for amendment of declaration details after release as soon as you notice that there are errors in the details. However, it is not possible to amend all details after release. If your declaration cannot be amended after release, request for invalidation and lodge a new customs declaration.
As a rule, no attachments to the request for amendment are needed. However, Customs may ask you to present the details used as grounds for amendment. Attach the following to the customs warehouse records: explanation concerning short shipment or overshipment, e.g. explanation from the consignor, other available documents concerning the goods and the warehouse unloading report.
When do I need amendment after release?
A customs declaration for goods released for the customs warehousing procedure can be amended after release if
- you notice that you have provided an incorrect previous procedure n the customs declaration. If needed, request also that the details of the previous procedure or declaration be amended.
- the warehouse notices, when receiving the goods, that there are goods missing or that e.g. the number of packages, the kind of packages, the weight of the goods or the goods description does not match the details in the declaration.
- the warehouse notices, when receiving the goods, that completely incorrect goods have been declared in the customs declaration. In the request for amendment after release, enter ‘0’ as the quantity of the goods with the incorrect goods description and lodge a new customs declaration for the goods that have not been declared at all. For example, if the goods description provided in the customs declaration is ‘hobs’, but the goods are ovens, the original declaration must be amended after release and a new customs declaration must be lodged for the ovens.
- an error has occurred when counting the unloaded goods, and it is not until during an inventory that the warehouse detects that the inventory result does not match the records
- Customs notices, when carrying out a goods control, that the declaration must be amended.
If the error is detected after the goods or products have already been entered in the warehouse records, amendment of the declaration also requires amendment of the details in the records.
If Customs has notified that the goods will be subject to control, the request for amendment after release cannot be accepted until after the goods control.
How shall I request that a declaration be amended after release?
If a customs warehousing declaration you have lodged needs to be amended after release, request an amendment after release with a free-form contact. If you have lodged the declaration via Customs’ online service, send the request for amendment after release from the ‘Summary and submission’ page of the declaration. If you have lodged the declaration in message exchange, use the message ‘Free-form contact’ for submitting the request for amendment after release.
In the free-form contact, enter a description of the reason for the amendment request. If, for example, in the case of overshipment or short shipment, describe in which way the details provided in the declaration have changed.
Example: “When unloading the goods, we noticed that the quantity that had arrived at the warehouse did not match the declaration details.
Goods item 1: Declared 27 ct, established 35 ct.
Goods item 2: Declared 50 ct, established 25 ct.
Total number of packages: declared 77 ct, established a total of 60 ct.
Kind regards, Frank Forwarder, Forwarding Ltd.
You will always receive a decision concerning your request for amendment after release. The decision will be either a decision on amendment after release or a rejection of a request for amendment after release. The decision will indicate the grounds on which Customs has accepted or rejected your request for amendment after release.
What attachments or information can Customs request concerning the amendment request?
Customs may ask you to provide an attachment or information concerning the request for amendment after release. Depending on the reason for the request, this information may be e.g. a warehouse unloading report, a packing list, an invoice or other proof of the received goods that have been entered in the records. Upload the necessary information to Customs’ online service or submit it as a message. Indicate the attachments in the request for amendment after release.
What shall I do at the warehouse, if I notice that the goods I have received do not match the details in the declaration?
Check your company’s guidelines for situations like this. In your records, enter the quantity of goods that actually arrived and see to that the request for amendment after release and the possible new customs declaration will be submitted. The customs warehouse records must be up-to-date, the documents in the records must be accurate and the goods must remain under customs supervision.
Customs can also amend a customs declaration after release
Customs can also amend a customs declaration after the release for the customs procedure e.g. based on control observations. In such case, you will receive a decision from Customs indicating why the declaration has been amended after release.
Amendment after release cannot be used in all situations
If you receive overshipped goods that have not been declared in the customs declaration at all, an entirely new customs declaration must be lodged for the overshipped goods.
If the following details are incorrect, the declaration must be invalidated and a new declaration must be lodged:
- the first two digits of the customs procedure code
- the declarant’s identification number (the EORI number)
- the representative’s identification number (the EORI number)
- type of representation
If you try to request an amendment after release regarding a declaration which should be invalidated and for which a new customs declaration should be lodged, Customs will reject the amendment request.
Applicable legislation
- Union Customs Code (UCC), Article 173
- Union Customs Code (UCC), Article 237(2), when Union goods have been placed under the customs warehousing procedure in accordance with Union legislation covering specific fields.
Attachment Upload Service
Bulk goods can be placed under a customs procedure with the quantity details included in the previous document. If the quantity of goods is not measured at this stage, the deviation in the quantity cannot be aligned later with a single declaration. Therefore, corrections concerning bulk goods are slightly different to those of break bulk goods. When aligning corrections is not possible, you should request corrections of declarations by calculation according to the first-in-first-out principle starting from the oldest declaration.
Correction based on measurement or inventory results
When goods are added to or removed from a warehouse after a previous measurement, you should request correction based on measurements of bulk goods. Correction is not necessary when goods are merely measured without other transactions being involved. You should also request correction when the warehouse is emptied and the measured quantity of goods is different to the declared quantity.
Correction when there are more goods than what is stated in the original declaration
If a warehouse contains goods in a larger quantity than what has been declared, you should request a correction to the declaration. If non-manifested goods comprise other material than what is stated in the original declaration, you must submit an entirely new declaration on the goods. In such cases, you should enter “ZZZ – Other previous document” as the previous document. As the reference for the previous document, enter the ID of the document on which the observation of deviations is based, along with the date of the observation. The document can be, for example, the measurement report.
When the original declaration includes fewer goods than declared, you should request a correction for the oldest declaration
If a warehouse contains bulk goods in a smaller quantity than what has been declared, you should request a correction to the oldest declaration. If the observed shortage is equal to or larger than the quantity in the oldest declaration, you must request the gross weight “0” to be entered on as many declarations as needed to cover the shortage. In your correction request, make sure to specify
- the quantity given on each declaration
- the quantity to be corrected on each declaration
- the document on which the correction is based. If necessary, Customs will ask you to present the documents.