Keeping records and reporting in customs warehousing

Records approved by Customs have to be kept for goods to be stored in a customs warehouse. The person responsible for keeping records is

  • the holder of the authorisation in a private warehouse
  • either the holder of the authorisation or holder of the procedure in a public customs warehouse Type I
  • the holder of the procedure in a public customs warehouse Type II.

Customs inspects the warehouse records before granting the authorisation. Furthermore, the warehouse records and operation are inspected regularly during the warehousing procedure and thereafter. There is a customs regulation on recordkeeping in a customs warehouse.

The aim of the records and general conditions

With the help of the data in the records, Customs supervises the keeping of storage facilities meant for customs warehousing as well as the identification of the goods, the customs status and the movement of the goods. The records must contain data in real-time regarding the quantity and the type of goods stored in the customs warehouse.

The records consist of entries and documents that the entries are based on. Customs declarations regarding the starting and ending of customs warehousing as well as other documents are part of the materials in the records. The record materials must be kept for six years from the beginning of the year when the goods were placed under another customs procedure or re-exported, destroyed or abandoned to the State. Record documents archived electronically must be presented e.g. as printouts to Customs upon request.

If the accounting system is changed after the authorisation has been granted, then permission to use the new system must be acquired from the Customs Authorisation Centre.

Possible corrections of the records must be approved by the customs office that supervises the operative activity of the warehouse.

Points to consider

The goods are to be entered into the records by goods item and package type. This information cannot during warehousing be changed in such a way that the audit trail is broken. The same quantity of goods that has been deposited must also exit the warehouse. If the goods e.g. have been entered into the records as boxes and number of pieces, they cannot be removed from the warehouse as single boxes or pallets.


Records for the customs warehouse must be kept and the entries must be in Finnish, Swedish or English, even in situations where the goods arrive under a transit with a goods description in an approved language of the country of departure, for example in Dutch.


The records of the customs warehouse must contain at least the details required by law. The authorisation holder can also enter other details it considers important in the records. The records must contain at least the following details:

  1. The reference number of the customs declaration used when placing the goods under the warehousing procedure. When the declaration is lodged electronically, this refers to the MRN and goods item number from Customs’ system. When a standard customs warehousing declaration is lodged under the fallback procedure, this refers to the warehouse deposit number given by the holder of the authorisation or holder of the procedure, or another corresponding reference and the date of placement under the procedure. 

  2. Reference of the declaration used before the warehousing procedure, such as
    • the MRN and possible goods item number
    • the number of the decision on release of the import
    • other reference number, e.g. warehouse deposit details for procedure no 7171 provided by the dispatching warehouse, when moving goods for which no electronic customs declaration has been lodged or when moving goods between warehouses covered by the same authorisation.
  3. Reference number (MRN) of the customs declaration for ending the warehousing procedure, or corresponding data from a document with which goods have been destroyed or abandoned to the State. The reference can be
    • a transit or re-exportation MRN (see section 5.)
    • the number of the decision on release of the import
    • other reference number, for example, the reference number of a document regarding the destruction of the goods or abandonment to the State.
  4. If the goods are not transited after re-export, but they are transferred under the customs warehousing procedure to the place of exit, an entry of the final exit of the goods must be made in the records within 100 days of the exit. The records must then contain two separate entries; an entry of the removal from the warehouse and an entry of the exit from the Union.

  5. When necessary, data that unequivocally allows the identification of customs documents other than customs declarations as well as any other documents relevant to the placing of goods under the procedure and of any documents relevant to the ending of the procedure. For example, if the customs warehousing has been ended with re-exportation and a transit has been opened thereafter, the information regarding the transit must also be added to the records.

  6. Data to help identify the goods: particulars, identifying numbers, number and kind of packages and, where relevant, the identification marks of the container.

  7. Goods description: usual commercial or technical description, which has to be specific enough so that the goods can be identified based on it.

  8. Goods quantity:
    • gross mass
    • the required supplementary quantity and unit for the commodity code.
  9. Location of goods, at least the address of the warehouse.
  10. Particulars of any movement of goods.
  11. Where accounting segregation is required, information about type of goods, customs status and, where appropriate, origin of the goods;
    • Union goods stored in the customs warehouse facility
    • storage of undeclared goods together with Union goods, for example bulk goods in the same tank or silo.
  12. Particulars of unusual forms of handling and, where applicable, the new tariff classification resulting from the handling.
  13. Additional information for special cases, at the request of the customs authorities for justified reasons.

 


When required, you must be able to present electronically archived documents to Customs. Attach the following documents as receipts in the stock records:

Warehouse deposit:

  • the decision on release concerning the customs warehousing declaration submitted to Customs’ online service with attachments, if any
  • the notification of release or decision on release concerning a customs warehousing declaration lodged with a message
  • the customs declaration that was lodged with a SAD form and that starts customs warehousing with attachments, if any

Removal from the warehouse:

  • the decision on release concerning the customs declaration submitted to Customs’ online service with attachments, if any
  • the notification of release or decision on release concerning a customs declaration lodged with a message
  • fallback procedure document, for example a customs declaration on a SAD form and attachments, if any

Please also note the following:

  • T1 transit: transit MRN number in the stock records is sufficient.
  • Re-export declaration: the decision on release for the procedure and certification of exit.
  • Re-export declaration, with a subsequently opened TIR Carnet: decision on release for re-export and a copy of the Volet 1 page of the TIR Carnet with attachments, if any. A certification of exit can also be attached to the records.
  • Re-export declaration, with a subsequently opened T1 transit: decision on release for the re-export procedure with the MRN number of the T1 transit is sufficient. The warehouse keeper can also attach the certification of exit to the records.
  • Destruction of goods under customs supervision: on a case by case basis, either the certificate of destruction endorsed by Customs or the decision on release for inward processing.
  • Handing over to the State: a document endorsed by Customs of abandonment of goods to the State.

An entry of the ending of the procedure must be made in the stock records no later than when the goods are moved from the customs warehouse or the authorisation holder’s facilities. The warehouse operator must ensure that the quantity and quality of the goods released from the warehouse corresponds to the data provided in the customs declaration for the ending of the warehousing procedure (e.g. transit declaration).


The holder of the authorisation or holder of the procedure, is responsible for submitting an inventory list in real time to Customs upon request. The inventory list is a recorded list of goods that are still under the customs warehousing procedure. The list is to be printed out or submitted in some other way.


  • Article 214 of the Customs Code and Article 178 of the Delegated Regulation