Discharging the transit procedure

You can request permission to unload the goods when the goods are in the territory of Finland. 

How to request the unloading permission

• You can request the unloading permission from any customs office that is open and provides customer service.
• You can request the permission in the Customs Clearance Service.

We recommend that you request it either electronically or at a customs office. If you cannot use either of these, you can request the unloading permission by email to Customs’ Electronic Service Centre at spake.passitus(at)tulli.fi.

In the request by email, provide the following:

• transit MRN
• request to unload
• information about the intended place of unloading and the warehouse ID (FI1234567-800101)
• information about customs seals, if any, and their state

If the transit procedure was started at the customs office of departure under the fallback procedure, the TAD with attachments must be scanned and sent together with the unloading request. The use of the fallback procedure is indicated by a red fallback procedure stamp in the MRN section of the TAD.

You can receive the unloading permission under these terms

The unloading permission is received under these terms: 

• The goods are going to be unloaded in a temporary storage facility or a customs warehouse approved by Customs or the goods are delivered as ship supplies.
• The goods will be placed under a subsequent customs procedure immediately after requesting the unloading permission or the customs declaration has been pre-lodged (D declaration). The goods can be taken into use when a decision on release has been received from Customs. The accepted customs declaration for the subsequent procedure is used as the unloading result.
• The goods exit the EU. When the goods exit the EU on a non-regular shipping service vessel, the vessel’s manifest bill of lading or similar information concerning the goods must be submitted as the unloading result. Only the final manifest data is accepted as the unloading result, not for example an advance manifest.

How to submit the unloading report

With the unloading report, you indicate whether the goods correspond to what was declared.

• If you requested the unloading permission from the customs office, send the unloading report by email to: spake.passitus(at)tulli.fi
• If you requested the unloading permission in the Customs Clearance Service, send the unloading report in the Customs Clearance Service. See the detailed instructions on this page under “Providing the unloading result via the Customs Clearance Service” 
• If you requested the unloading permission via message exchange, send the unloading result with a message. See the detailed instructions on this page under “Providing the unloading result with a message (FI044)” 
• If you requested the unloading permission by email, send the unloading report by email to: spake.passitus(at)tulli.fi The report must contain the following: 
  • transit MRN
  • discrepancies, if any
  • the signature of the warehouse keeper (or ship representative), a signature clarification and the name of the warehouse (or ship)
• The report can also be submitted as a separate document. If there are discrepancies between unloaded goods and the details in the unloading permission concerning the transit declaration, these discrepancies must be provided in the unloading report. These discrepancies include an excess quantity of goods, changed or missing goods.

Submit the unloading report no later than the following day

The unloading report must be submitted immediately after unloading or no later than the following day after receiving the unloading permission. Customs discharges the transit procedure against an acceptable unloading report or against a customs declaration submitted for a subsequent procedure.

Responsibility for the unloaded goods

The responsibility for the goods in the unloading report is transferred to the warehouse keeper after the goods have been registered in the warehouse records and Customs has accepted the submitted unloading report.

The authorised consignee can receive consignments either as T transits or TIR transits, depending on the authorisation. An authorised consignee must send a reception message (FI007A) for all incoming goods to Customs before unloading the goods. The reception message contains information on the condition of seals or on a missing seal. The reception message is also used for notifying Customs about a transport that does not have any seals.

When the consignee receives an unloading permission, they can remove any possible seals and start unloading the goods. The goods should be inspected by comparing them to the data in the unloading permit or in the TIR Carnet. 

Unloading result

The authorised consignee must submit the unloading report to Customs without delay, however no later than on the third day from the receipt of the unloading permit. The unloading report must contain the following data: possible excess goods, missing goods as well as replacement goods and other possible breaches of regulations such as differences between the data in the TIR Carnet and the unloading permit. The authorised consignee must archive the TADs and appendices, pertaining to the received consignments, so that they are available to Customs. 
Control result codes:

• ”A2 – As declared”, when both the quality and the quantity of the goods you have unloaded correspond to the details provided in the transit declaration.
• ”A5 – Minor discrepancies/Overshipment”, when minor discrepancies that do not affect the discharge of the transit procedure or the customs debt have been detected.
  • Examples of minor discrepancies:
    • missing or incorrect identification number of a means of transport (for example “AUT-0”)
    • minor discrepancy regarding mass, kind of packages or package markings without any noticeable handling of the goods or changing of the goods
    • excess goods (same or different goods) have been unloaded and are entered or have been entered in temporary storage records or placed under a new customs procedure (e.g. release for free circulation).
• ”B1 – Missing items”, when goods are missing (completely or partially) or the goods are different from the declared ones (type and quantity of the goods) or completely undeclared goods have been detected.

 “A1 – The control result corresponds to the declaration”, this code is only used by Customs. Customs uses this code to notify that Customs has inspected the goods and checked the data and has found that they are as declared. 

Discharging the TIR Carnet at Customs

The TIR Carnet is discharged at the customs office upon presentation of the authorised consignee’s unloading report.

Certificate of arrival

On request by the carrier, the authorised consignee must present a certificate of arrival in accordance with Annex 72-03 in the Delegated Act of the Union Customs Code for each consignment that has arrived within the time limit and in an unchanged condition. 

Choose the code for unloading result

• ”A2 – As declared”, when both the quality and the quantity of the goods you have unloaded correspond to the details provided in the transit declaration.
  • When the result is A2, you can submit the unloading report by clicking on “Send unloading report”.
• ”A5 – Minor discrepancies/Overshipment”, when minor discrepancies that do not affect the discharge of the transit procedure or the customs debt have been detected (e.g. minor discrepancies regarding mass, kind of packages or package markings without any noticeable tampering with the goods or changing of the goods). This code is also used for reporting completely undeclared goods, e.g. overshipped goods.
  • When the unloading result is A5, click on “Add and/or modify data of declaration”, so that you can provide the discrepancies.
• ”B1 – Missing items”, when goods are missing (completely or partially) or the goods are different from the declared ones (type and quantity of the goods) or completely undeclared goods have been detected. If goods are missing from a consignment and there are also overshipped goods in the consignment, choose this code.
  • When the unloading result is B1, click on “Add and/or modify data of declaration”, so that you can provide the discrepancies.

You may not choose the alternative “A1 – The control result corresponds to the declaration”, because this code is only used by Customs. Customs uses this code to notify that Customs has inspected the goods and checked the data and has found that they are as declared.

Provide the unloading result as follows:

• ”A2 – As declared”, when both the quality and the quantity of the goods you have unloaded correspond to the details provided in the transit declaration.
• ”A5 – Minor discrepancies/Overshipment”, when minor discrepancies that do not affect the discharge of the transit procedure or the customs debt have been detected (e.g. minor discrepancies regarding mass, kind of packages or package markings without any noticeable tampering with the goods or changing of the goods).
  • When the unloading result is A5, provide the detected quantities with an unloading report.
• ”B1 – Missing items”, when goods are missing (completely or partially) or the goods are different from the declared ones (type and quantity of the goods) or completely undeclared goods have been detected.
  • When the unloading result is B1, provide the detected quantities with an unloading report.

You may not use the alternative “A1 – The control result corresponds to the declaration”, because this code is only used by Customs. Customs uses this code to notify that Customs has inspected the goods and checked the data and has found that they are as declared.

Goods sent under T transit can be presented to Customs after the transit time limit, if the goods can still be inspected by Customs. If the goods can no longer be inspected by Customs, the transit will not be accepted as presented to Customs and no unloading permission will be issued.

Accepting retrospective presentation

The transit is considered as presented within the time limit, if exceeding the time limit was not caused by the actions of the holder of the transit procedure. Examples of acceptable reasons for exceeding the time limit:

• there has been an accident during the transport (entries made by the Police in the TAD or other document)
• the driver has been forced to seek medical attention (medical certificate)
• the vehicle has been damaged and subsequently repaired (verification on towing and repair)
• strike, avalanche or some other acceptable and verifiable delay.

Based on the provided explanation, the customs office of destination will assess whether the retrospective presentation of the goods can be accepted.

Release for free circulation of goods not presented

The holder of the goods or the consignee may sometimes notice later that the T1 transit for goods that have arrived has not been presented to Customs. In that case, the goods can be released for free circulation with an import declaration where, the following details are provided in addition to the details normally required:

• the additional information code FIXXX and under “Description”, the following text: “Transit not presented”.
• as the previous document code 1ZZZ and as the reference the MRN of the transit not presented.

Customs will not discharge the transit procedure. Instead, the customs clearance decision will be sent to the customs office of departure as alternative proof of discharge of the transit procedure.

Request the unloading permission for a TIR Carnet transit already at the office of transit or at the office of entry, if there is no customs office with customer service at the destination.