Coffins, burial urns and funeral decorations

Funeral decorations include, among other things, flowers, wreaths, candles and statues.

Exporting human remains and funeral decorations

When taking a coffin containing human remains or a burial urn containing human ashes personally out of Finland, you must carry the death certificate and cremation certificate with you. When they are transported by a transport company, an oral declaration is sufficient.

When a burial urn is transported by Posti, you should fill in customs declaration CN22 or CN23, which is available from Posti.

Funeral decorations can be exported in personal luggage.

Importing human remains and funeral decorations

When a coffin containing human remains or a burial urn containing human ashes is brought into Finland, the legislation of the dispatching country applies. In some countries, coffins or urns are not released for transport by a private person, and must be sent as a shipment of valuable goods either by freight or by post. In some countries, however, the accompanying person is allowed to pick up the coffin or burial urn containing human remains themselves.

You have to find out what rules apply from the embassy of the country in question.

Burial urns and coffins containing human remains are also to be declared upon import, which requires that the death certificate or cremation certificate be presented. You can declare an urn for example with a form or by a visiting a customs office.

Funeral decorations can be imported in personal luggage, or you can fill in a customs declaration regarding them.