Author and maintainer: Export Customer Management Updated on 31 October 2011

Transcription

1 1. Electronic export declarations...2 Should we choose the EDI sender status or web declarations?...2 Who can act as an EDI sender on behalf of a company in export declarations?...2 Can goods still be in the manufacturing stage at a factory when an electronic export declaration is provided for them? Data content of the export declaration...2 What information can be omitted from an incomplete export declaration when the two-stage declaration procedure is used?...2 If an individual export consignment involves several invoices, should the trade invoices be itemised according to commodity code?...3 Should the customs declaration data be provided in Finnish or can the data be provided in the language used in the trade invoice, for example in English?...3 How is the statistical value calculated?...3 How should the number of packages be declared if there is only one export package which consists of several commodity codes?...3 How specifically should the location of the goods be stated for customs control? Is it sufficient to provide a name like Steveco or Mussalo?...3 Which national procedure code should I provide when the consignment is not subject to a national procedure? Message exchange...4 What software companies supply software approved by Customs?...4 What operators offer services in ELEX message exchange?...4 How does the customer know if the export declaration message has arrived at Customs?...4 What is the normal processing time of an export declaration message?...4 When should an EDI customer send an export declaration message to Customs?...4 Are the transaction ID and the MRN specific to each export consignment or means of transport?...4 If the export goods have been placed under an export procedure, can the declaration be corrected with a new message? Registered export customership...5 Why should I register as an export customer with Customs?...5 Should a foreign company register as an export customer with Finnish Customs?...5 When a company is already a registered import customer of Customs, should it register as an export customer?...5 Registration of offices and affiliated companies...5 Completing the application, i.e. the registration form Simplified procedures...7 Should a forwarding agency have an authorisation for a simplified procedure or for local clearance if it provides EDI declarations on behalf of the exporting company which has an authorisation for a simplified procedure?...7 Is two-stage clearance in use in export, or should all clearance information be provided already with the first declaration, i.e. prior to the exit of goods?...7 Should the two-stage declaration procedure be used when the exact weight of an export consignment to be loaded is not known? Other questions...7 1

2 How should I correct the export declaration if the consignment has been released for a customs procedure?...7 What documents are accepted for a fallback procedure? Electronic export declarations Should we choose the EDI sender status or web declarations? If the balance of goods is significant and there are a lot of export consignments, the EDI sender status is preferable. Web declarations are a good alternative when the number of export consignments is small and when there are no daily consignments. Who can act as an EDI sender on behalf of a company in export declarations? Any company that has had its software tested in an acceptable way can act as an EDI sender. Can goods still be in the manufacturing stage at a factory when an electronic export declaration is provided for them? An ordinary export declaration can be provided only when goods can be presented to Customs, which means that in this case a pre-shipment export declaration should be used. The said declaration contains the usual export declaration details as well as information on when the goods can be presented to Customs and their current location. 2. Data content of the export declaration What information can be omitted from an incomplete export declaration when the two-stage declaration procedure is used? All export declaration details are to be provided in the first declaration, but certain information can be changed with a supplementary declaration. This information includes the following: - Identity of active means of transport crossing the border - Nationality of active means of transport crossing the border - Identity of means of transport at departure - Transport mode at the border - Inland mode of transport - Number of packages (consignment to undergo customs clearance and goods consignment) - Gross mass of the item to be cleared - Goods item gross mass - Goods item net mass - Goods item supplementary measurement unit - Statistical value 2

3 If an individual export consignment involves several invoices, should the trade invoices be itemised according to commodity code? Trade invoices are not itemised according to commodity code. All trade invoices pertaining to export are declared in the attached documents of the consignment to undergo customs clearance, i.e. according to export declaration. Should the customs declaration data be provided in Finnish or can the data be provided in the language used in the trade invoice, for example in English? The message data must be provided either in Finnish or Swedish. The goods description can be provided in English. In web export, the declaration can also be provided in English. How is the statistical value calculated? Statistical value refers to the price of goods including the additional export costs occurring inside the borders of Finland (freight, etc.), as well as shipments free of charge that are not included in the price, when necessary. The price of partly or completely gratuitous goods is defined according to the price that would be acquired when selling the goods. How should the number of packages be declared if there is only one export package which consists of several commodity codes? For the first consignment, enter 1 as the number of packages + the package type as well as the marks and numbers on packages. For the second consignment, enter 0 as the number of packages + the package type as well as the marks and numbers on packages. For the third consignment, enter 0 as the number of packages + the package type as well as the marks and numbers on packages etc. You must enter exactly the same package types and the same marks and numbers on packages for each consignment and write these data in exactly the same way. How specifically should the location of the goods be stated for customs control? Is it sufficient to provide a name like Steveco or Mussalo? The location of the goods is to be stated as an official address, for example, Rahtikuja 3 B, Vaasa, Finland. A postal code is not acceptable, even though in the code list it is termed a location qualifier. Which national procedure code should I provide when the consignment is not subject to a national procedure? The national procedure code should always be provided. When there is no national procedure, you should provide the code

4 3. Message exchange What software companies supply software approved by Customs? Customs cannot sponsor any specific software companies. The exporter/forwarding agency should find out the available software. A list of software companies is available in Finnish on the website of Tieke Ry (The Finnish Information Society Development Centre) at Exporters can choose a supplier for the export clearance software that Customs will test. What operators offer services in ELEX message exchange? A list of authorised operators with contact information is available on page 23 of the guide to message-based transactions with Customs at How does the customer know if the export declaration message has arrived at Customs? When the message of the customer has been received by the export system of Customs, the customer will receive an acceptance message or, when the declaration requirements are not met, a rejection message. If the customer does not receive an approval or rejection message, they should contact the operator or Customs. The malfunction can be due to, for example, data connections. What is the normal processing time of an export declaration message? If the export declaration does not contain any errors and is not selected for manual processing, the message can be processed quite quickly and the processing time may range from a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the data connections. The aim is to process export declarations selected for manual processing within one hour after they are received by Customs. When should an EDI customer send an export declaration message to Customs? An export declaration must always be sent to Customs prior to the goods departing from the facilities of the exporter (factory, warehouse) or from another place of departure approved by Customs (for example, a forwarder warehouse close to an airport). Also in the future, an export declaration must be submitted prior to the goods departing from the place where they are presented. Are the transaction ID and the MRN specific to each export consignment or means of transport? Transaction IDs and MRNs are always declaration-specific, meaning they concern the entire export consignment itemised in the declaration. If the export goods have been placed under an export procedure, can the declaration be corrected with a new message? Customs declarations cannot be corrected after the declared goods have been placed under an export procedure. In practice this means that an export declaration can be corrected only if Customs has sent an error notification or if the matter concerns a pre-shipment export declaration. It is possible 4

5 to specify certain information in the two-stage declaration procedure which is subject to authorisation. A request for the correction of an export declaration can be made after release for export. However, it is not possible to correct all information. Separate instructions on the corrections, rectifications and annulments of export declarations are available in Finnish at 4. Registered export customership Why should I register as an export customer with Customs? Registration as an export customer is necessary so that Customs can process electronic declarations as smoothly as possible. Upon registration, Customs enters the name and address details of the export company in its customer register along with any possible information on authorisations. When a company submits an electronic export declaration into the export system of Customs, the system retrieves the information automatically from the customer register. Should a foreign company register as an export customer with Finnish Customs? It is not necessary for foreign companies to register, but they can do so in order to speed up the processing of their export declarations. When a company is already a registered import customer of Customs, should it register as an export customer? Companies should register also as export customers, even if they are already registered import customers. Registration of offices and affiliated companies Our company has a registered address in Espoo, but the products are manufactured in Turku from where they are exported. The company has only one business ID. Should the registered address of the company be stated as its principal place of business in the registration form? Should the Turku address from where goods are exported be given as the office address in the form? When you complete the registration form for export, you should provide the registered address information of the company (information for Espoo) under section A (principal place of business). Under section B (office information), provide the address information for Turku from where the goods are exported. The loading place of our goods is the factory of an subsidiary company of ours which is located in a city other than our head office. The factory of our subsidiary company delivers most of our export consignments. This means that exports take place in the name of our 5

6 company, but the consignments depart from the office of our subsidiary company. Should we provide the information on the office of the subsidiary company in section B of the form? The information on the principal place of business should be provided in section A of the registration form. You can provide the name and business ID of your company in section B and then, in the address section, provide the address information of the subsidiary company from where the goods are exported. If the subsidiary company carries out export in its own name, it should complete its own registration form, as the parent company and the subsidiary company have different business IDs. Completing the application, i.e. the registration form Should I enclose an extract from the trade register with the application? An exporter is not required to enclose an extract from the trade register with the application. An extract from the trade register is required only when the business acts as a representative (forwarding agency) and uses indirect representation. The extract from the trade register should be no more than 30 days old. Where can I find a registration application? The registration form and the instructions for completing it are available in Finnish on the Customs website, where you can print the form. Once you have completed the form, you can deliver to the Customs Electronic Service Centre. The application form is available at et/250s.pdf. Who signs the registration form? Should the signer have an authorisation for giving signatures? The person who signs the form does not need to have an authorisation from a company to provide signatures. The form can be signed, for example, by a person responsible for operative export activity. Does section C of the registration form (form of representation) concern the exporter or the forwarder who sees to customs clearance on behalf of the company? Section C is to be completed only by companies acting as representatives (forwarding agencies). What are the responsibilities entailed by different forms of representation in export? An indirect representative has the responsibility of a goods holder. This means that the representative (usually a forwarding agency) is responsible for the information in the export declaration to the same extent as the exporter is responsible for its own export declarations when independently seeing to export clearance. A direct representative has the responsibility of an agent. This means that the representative is responsible for the correctness of information to the best of its (expected) knowledge. 6

7 5. Simplified procedures Should a forwarding agency have an authorisation for a simplified procedure or for local clearance if it provides EDI declarations on behalf of the exporting company which has an authorisation for a simplified procedure? This is not necessary. Is two-stage clearance in use in export, or should all clearance information be provided already with the first declaration, i.e. prior to the exit of goods? An exporter can be granted authorisation for a two-stage declaration for a substantiated reason. A separate authorisation must be applied for (single authorisation for use of the simplified declaration procedure). The possibility of a two-stage declaration procedure is primarily intended for companies with export consignments whose exact quantity is not known before the time of loading the means of transport which is to exit the Community, e.g. a ship. A representative (forwarding agency) can carry out two-stage clearances on behalf of the exporter if the exporter has an authorisation for two-stage declarations, and if the representative has the lists of balances of goods defined in the authorisation of the export company, as well as estimates on the quantity of goods. Should the two-stage declaration procedure be used when the exact weight of an export consignment to be loaded is not known? No. When necessary, customers can resort to a conventional, one-stage, complete customs declaration to be provided in advance. The weight (and other information) can be corrected until the release for a customs procedure takes place. In practice, this means the moment given as the time of presenting the goods. 6. Other questions How should I correct the export declaration if the consignment has been released for a customs procedure? It is not possible to make corrections, but you can request a correction of certain information in the export declaration. For the time being, corrections can only be requested in writing from the Electronic Customs Clearance Centre. The form for corrections and cancellations is available in Finnish on the Customs website at /701s.pdf. If an invoice is reimbursed in a one-stage export procedure after the release of goods for export, should the export declaration be corrected? Moreover, should a correction be sent before the release if the invoice is annulled and a new one is drafted? The export declaration is to be corrected after the release. A complete customs declaration provided in advance can be corrected prior to the release of goods for export. 7

8 What documents are accepted for a fallback procedure? The ESS form (customs form No. 892) and the list of export articles (customs form No. 895) used as an additional document are accepted as fallback procedure documents. Alternately, a combination of the SAD form (Single Administrative Document) and the SSD form (customs form No. 890) can be used. Instructions for fallback procedures are available on the Customs website in ELEX customer instruction No. 37 at les/elex.pdf. 8