FAQ – Pre-departure declarations

When goods exit the EU, the pre-departure declaration is usually included in the export declaration or re-export declaration. Consequently, the responsibility lies with the declarant (exporter). The responsibility to submit an pre-departure declaration may be transferred to another party. A power of attorney is required.

If an export declaration is not required, the transport undertaking is responsible for submitting an exit summary declaration. This responsibility may also be transferred to another party. A power of attorney is required.

The exportation is halted pending the submission of the pre-departure declaration and a risk analysis is conducted.

There is no requirement to be established in the EU to submit a pre-departure declaration; however, you need to be established in the EU to be registered to communicate via EDI (TVEDI). If a supplier from a country outside the EU wants to submit a pre-departure, they can use an agent established in the Union.

All EU countries, as well as Norway and Switzerland are members of the EU security zone.
This means that you can exclude information about your pre-arrival declaration in your export declaration when exporting to Norway or Switzerland. This also means that you are not required to submit an exit summary declaration when trading with these countries.

The pre-departure declaration should be submitted as part of the export declaration. Normally, the pre-departure declaration is not a separate activity or document; it is included in the export declaration. If an export declaration is submitted to the customs office of export and the circumstances subsequently change prior to the goods exiting the EU, the declarant must contact the customs office of export and “substitute” the submitted export declaration. The main principles is that the customs office of export is the competent office when you need to change your information. This may give rise to the need for new risk analysis. Until you receive a new message from Swedish Customs, you may not ship your goods.

The person who submits the pre-departure declaration and the person represented by this actor must be an AOE, who either holds the Security and Safety authorisation, or the combined Customs Simplifications and Safety/security authorisation.

The transport undertaking must transfer the responsibility to submit the pre-arrival declaration to another party by power of attorney.

If the transport undertaking in this example has transferred responsibility to the agent or exporter (who in turn transfers responsibility to the agent), the transport undertaking does not need AEO authorisation. But if they are submitting a pre-arrival declaration they need an AEO authorisation to submit the declaration with reduced data requirements.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to fully benefit from an AEO authorisation if the goods are mingled. The best practise is to avoid mingling the goods or ensuring that all actors hold AEO status.

The AEO authorisation “Security and Safety” is required to submit reduced data.

The AEO authorisation “Security and Safety” is required for notifications of upcoming controls.

The AEO authorisation “Customs Simplifications” or the AEO authorisation “Security and Safety” are required for the option to select an alternative control location, for fewer controls or priority when subject to a control.

The AEO authorisation “Customs Simplifications” is required for simplified authorisation management.

If you hold the combination “Customs Simplifications/Security and Safety”, you naturally have access to all the benefits granted to companies with AEO authorisations.

Confirmation of receipt will be sent to the person submitting the pre-arrival declaration. Upon receipt of the pre-arrival declaration you will receive a positive confirmation, which also contains the Master Reference Number (MRN) assigned to the pre-arrival declaration. If the pre-arrival declaration has not been received, you will receive a negative response containing error codes indicating any errors to correct when re-submitting the pre-arrival declaration.

Information can be found on the Declaration guide for exit summary declarations page.

In such cases, you will use the container number when submitting the export declaration in Sweden. Later, when the goods are subsequently presented for departure at the customs office of exit where the goods are to exit the EU, you will be required to submit a new container number.

An express consignment is an individual item carried via an integrated service of expedited/time-definite collection, transport, customs clearance and delivery of parcels whilst tracking the location of, and maintaining control over such items throughout the supply of the service (as per Commission Regulation 2016/341, Annex 9 – Appendix A, Note 4.2). The definition is not limited to any mode of transportation.

Goods related to moving should be declared using a pre-departure declaration, like any other goods. You are not required to submit a pre-departure declaration if you are personally transporting your own goods in your capacity as a private individual.

As a private individual, you are not required to submit an entry summary declaration on goods carried in your personal luggage. Any other goods must be declared.

You are required to comply with the rules for exportation and pre-departure declarations. The export rules stipulate that the export declaration must be completed before the goods depart for export from your warehouse. The rules for pre-departure declarations stipulate that the deadline for pre-departure declarations is 1 hours prior to departure from the customs office of exit, given that the goods are exiting the EU by road. Given that your journey by car to the customs office of exit in a different Member State is likely to take longer than 1 hour, you will automatically comply with your deadline if you submit the export declaration before the goods depart. Thus, you do not need to consider the deadlines for pre-departure declarations. Instead, it is sufficient to submit your export declaration and await the export authorisation (ZEM) before the goods depart.

You are required to comply with the rules for exportation and pre-departure declarations.
The export rules stipulate that the export declaration must be completed before the goods depart for export from your warehouse. The pre-departure declaration rules stipulate that the deadline is 24 hours before the goods are loaded onto the ship leaving the Union, i.e. before the ships are loaded onto the ship in Rotterdam. The time from sending the goods for exportation until the goods are loaded onto the ship in Rotterdam is likely to be longer than 24 hours. Thus, you are compliant with the deadlines for pre-departure declarations. It is sufficient to submit your export declaration and await the export authorisation (ZEM) before the goods depart.

Single transport agreements (through-bills of lading) and your goods are transported to another city in an EU Member State from which the goods will finally leave the Customs territory of the Union. The bill of lading should be addressed to a location outside of the EU.

A single transport agreement can be used to convert your indirect export to a direct export. The direct export is thus terminated in Sweden (even if the goods are shipped out of the EU via a Member State). The provisions governing single transport agreements can be found in Articles 329.7 and 333.6 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2015/2447 of 24 November 2015 laying down detailed rules implementing certain provisions of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Union Customs Code.