Preferential tariff treatment

Preferential tariff treatment means a reduced rate of customs duty. You can obtain preferential tariff treatment for products that are originally manufactured in a country with which the EU has a preferential tariff agreement. 

Preferential treatment means that the rate of customs duty for the goods is lower than usual or that you don’t have to pay any customs duty for them. You can obtain preferential tariff treatment for goods delivered from a country with which the EU has a preferential tariff agreement. Furthermore, the goods must be originally manufactured in a country from which they are dispatched. Read the conditions on how to get preferential treatment of goods based on their origin. Please note that, despite the preferential tariff treatment, value added tax for the goods must always be paid.

Preferential tariff treatment from most countries in the world

You can get preferential tariff treatment from most countries in the world. Check the list to find out from which countries you can get preferential tariff treatment (in Finnish). For example goods originally manufactured in the UK are duty-free. The preferential tariff treatment volumes can be found in the commodity code service Fintaric

You can obtain preferential tariff treatment for some goods arriving from Turkey even though the goods are manufactured in some other country than Turkey. You can obtain preferential tariff treatment, for example, if the goods have been cleared in Turkey and you get a movement certificate A.TR from the seller. When declaring goods ordered from Turkey, provide Turkey as the country of origin even though the goods were manufactured in some other country.

There are only around twenty countries that don’t grant preferential tariff treatment. Full customs duties must always be paid on goods ordered from these countries. Such countries are the United States, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Hongkong, Taiwan, Russia, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Australia and New Zealand, among others. 

How do I request preferential tariff treatment?

You can request preferential treatment if the goods that you are declaring fulfil the conditions of preferential treatment and you have a document proving the origin of the goods, such as a certificate of origin (movement certificate EUR.1) or a declaration of origin, a statement on origin or proof of origin. Check the requirements in advance. You can get the document from the seller of the goods. 

If you don’t have the required document when you are declaring the goods, you can clear the consignment without it and apply for preferential treatment afterwards by appealing against a customs clearance decision


Any questions?

Contact Customs Information Mon–Fri 8 am–4.15 pm

Please have a look at the frequently asked questions.

If you have a question about the arrival of parcels, its contents or the handling fee, please contact Posti.

Customs Information Service