Declaration header

Under “Declaration header”, there are fields e.g. for the following details:

  • the reference or references you use
  • the declaration type and additional declaration type
  • the quantities of the goods covered by the declaration
  • customs offices 
  • location of goods.

The service fills in some of the details automatically.

Basic information 

Provide here the required basic information. Read the detailed guidance below.

Trader reference, additional trader reference and unique consignment reference (UCR)

The trader reference specifies the customs declaration and it is a free-form reference issued by the declarant. The reference can contain no more than 22 characters, and it can consist of numbers, letters or special characters. Under “Additional trader reference”, you can provide some other reference, e.g. the representative’s own reference number.

The field “Unique consignment reference (UCR)” can usually be left blank. Complete the field only if the consignor has issued a UCR (Unique Consignment Reference), which remains the same throughout the supply chain. It can be a WCO (ISO 15459) code or some other similar code. 

Declaration type

The service fills in the declaration type automatically based on your earlier choices. If the declaration type is incorrect, you’ll have to start lodging the declaration all over again.

Additional declaration type

If you are lodging a standard declaration, choose one of the following as the additional

declaration type:

  • “A – Standard customs declaration”, if you provide the full details in the export declaration before loading the goods and the goods are available for inspection by Customs.
  • “D – Pre-lodged standard customs declaration”, if you are lodging a declaration prior to the presentation of the goods.

If you are lodging a retrospective customs declaration for the goods, the service automatically fills in “R” as the additional declaration type. The service fills in the additional declaration type automatically, when you have chosen in the first choices that you are lodging a retrospective declaration in a situation where the goods have already exited Finland. You can’t change this choice later.If you didn’t intend to lodge a retrospective customs declaration, you’ll have to start lodging the declaration all over again.

If you have lodged a declaration during a service interruption under the fallback procedure using a form or a document and are lodging an electronic declaration retrospectively, start by choosing “A” or “C” as the additional declaration type. Later, provide the additional information code “FIFAL” under “Additional information”.

If you are lodging a simplified customs declaration (subject to authorisation), choose one of the following as the additional declaration type:

  • “C – Simplified customs declaration”, if you are lodging the export declaration before loading the goods and the goods are available for inspection by Customs.
  • “F – Pre-lodged simplified declaration”, if you are lodging a declaration prior to the presentation of the goods.

Total amount invoiced

Provide the total amount invoiced here. Providing this detail is optional if you are lodging a declaration for re-export from a customs warehouse (3171) or for re-export after temporary admission (3153) and the nature of transaction is 91. 

Provide the invoiced price as the total amount invoiced and the invoice currency.The price is the amount actually paid or to be paid for the goods, taking into account the cash, quantity and other discounts. Unlike regarding the statistical value, no additions or deductions are made regarding the total amount invoiced, and it is not converted into euros if the invoice currency is not euro. 
Provide the price with no more than 2 decimal places.

Invoice currency

Select the invoice currency from the drop-down menu. If the currency indicated in the invoice is not included on the list, select “EUR” and convert the total amount invoiced into euros.

Total gross mass

Enter the gross mass of all the goods. The gross mass also includes the weight of the packages.

Nature of transaction

From the drop-down menu, select the code that describes the export transaction. You can use the search function or browse the drop-down menu by clicking on the field “Nature of transaction”. 

Examples of the most common codes: 

  • 11 – Outright purchase/sale
  • 34 – Transactions involving transfer of ownership without financial compensation
  • 60 – Transactions not involving transfer of ownership, e.g. repair of goods; hire, loan, operational leasing or other temporary uses, for less than 24 months
  • 99 – Other transactions which cannot be classified under other codes.

Country of export 

The service fills in this detail automatically based on your earlier choices, and it cannot always be changed. The country of export is Finland, if the export consignment is formed in Finland. If the export consignment arrives from another EU country and exits the EU via Finland, the country of export is the EU country where the goods were dispatched for export.  

The country of export is part of safety and security data. 

Country of destination 

The service fills in this detail automatically based on your earlier choices, and it cannot always be changed. 

The country of destination is part of safety and security data.

Customs offices

Choose the customs office of exit from the drop-down menu. The place of exit is the last customs office through which the goods physically exit the customs territory of the EU. 

The place of exit for goods exiting by sea is the customs office in the area where the goods are loaded onto a vessel that is not assigned to a regular shipping service, provided that the vessel operates outside Finland’s territorial waters. A non-regular shipping service means that the vessel operates between different locations in the customs territory using a route that has not been granted a regular shipping service authorisation as referred to in customs legislation. 

Delivery terms

Provide the delivery terms. From the drop-down menu, select the INCOTERM code, that is, the delivery terms that determine, for example, the division of responsibilities between the seller and the buyer. The delivery terms are agreed on for example in the commercial contract. The menu will be displayed when you click on the field “INCOTERM code”. If you are not using the Incoterms published by the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), select the code “XXX – other delivery terms” and provide a free-form description, e.g. “Ex warehouse Turku factory” in the text field.

In the field “Location”, provide the name of the location or terminal specified in the terms of delivery. UN/LOCODE is not normally provided as the terms of delivery location. UN/LOCODE is the United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations. From the drop-down menu, select the code of the country of destination according to the location specified in the terms of delivery.

Locations

Under “Locations”, provide the goods location. The goods must be physically located in Finland, so that the export declaration can be submitted to Finnish Customs. Goods located in another EU country can only be declared with an authorisation for centralised export. Read the detailed information below.

Customs warehouse or temporary storage

If you are lodging a declaration for re-export from a customs warehouse, provide the warehouse ID of the customs warehouse where the goods are when they are presented to Customs and can be inspected by Customs. This field is only displayed if the previous procedure is ”71 – Placing of goods under the customs warehousing procedure”.

Goods location at the time of presentation

Indicate where the goods are when they are presented to Customs and can be inspected by Customs. The location may be a temporary storage facility or a customs warehouse, a place approved or designated by Customs, a customs office or, in force majeure situations, some other place. In export, the most common type of location is ”D – Other” with the qualifier of location ”Z – Street address”. Provide the street address.

First, choose the type of location code from the drop-down menu. The other location details will be displayed after you have chosen the type of location.

Provide the location details as follows:

  • If the goods are, for example, on the exporter’s premises or already at the place of exit:
    • Choose “D” as the type of location code.
    • The qualifier of location will automatically be “Z – Street address”.
    • Provide the street address as the address.
  • If the goods are, at the time of presentation, in a temporary storage facility or in another location approved by Customs, that is, in a location that has the authorisation as a location approved by Customs or the status as an export warehouse:
    • Choose “C” as the type of location code.
    • Choose either "X ‒ Identification of warehouse (EORI number with extensions)” or "Z ‒ Street address" as the qualifier of location.
      • If you chose “X”, enter the warehouse ID in the “Identification of warehouse” field.
      • If you chose “Z”, provide the street address as the address.
  • If the goods are at a customs office (force majeure):
    • Choose “A” as the type of location code and “V” as the qualifier of location.
    • In the “Customs office” field, enter the customs office code.

Contact person for control

Provide the contact person’s name and email address that Customs can contact, if the goods are subject to control. The email address can be a shared email address. You can also provide a phone number. 

Additional documents

Provide here the details of the additional documents concerning the whole declaration. 

As an exception, commercial documents, such as “N380 – Commercial invoice”, “N325 – Pro forma invoice” or some other similar document, such as “3320 – Order confirmation” or ”3315 – Commercial contract”, shall be provided in the details of the first goods item during the EU transition period (until 11 February 2025). 

Add a document by clicking on “+Add document”. From the dropdown menu, select the type of additional document and provide the document ID, such as the number of the additional document or other identifier. 

You don’t need to upload the document as an attachment, unless Customs specifically asks for it. You can, however, speed up the processing of the declaration by uploading the document already when filling in the declaration. You can upload an attachment by clicking on “Add attachment”. The supported attachment file types are pdf, jpg, png and tif. The maximum attachment size is 5 MB. If you upload a document as an attachment, the service will automatically fill in the field “Attachment reference”.

You can, if necessary, add documents by clicking on “+Add document”. If you have added a document row by mistake, remove it by ticking the box next to the “Type” column and clicking on the button “Remove selected”. 

Additional information

If needed, provide one or more than one header level additional information code under “Additional information”. If you need to provide other additional information, click on “+ Add additional information”. 

The code “FIPDF” is always pre-selected by default. Do not unselect it if you wish to receive decisions concerning your declaration in PDF format.  

Select the appropriate code from the drop-down menu. If needed, provide the description of the additional information code in the field “Description”.

Additional reference

In export, the Y codes are provided at goods item level, not here.