Ship clearance
Any communications with Swedish Customs regarding the arrival of ships should be done in the Maritime Single Window.
The Maritime Single Window (MSW) is a joint authority portal for ship reporting that has been developed in cooperation between Swedish Customs, the Swedish Maritime Authority, the Coast Guard and the Swedish Transport Agency. The MSW is administered by the Swedish Maritime Authority.
Information to be submitted via the MSW.
The reporting requirement applies to all ships
The reporting requirement applies to all ships entering Sweden’s customs territory. You are always required to report to Swedish Customs if you have cargo, ship store or crew’s effects to declare.
There may be some exceptions in specific cases.
To use the MSW to report to Swedish Customs, you will need to hold an EORI-number and be registered as a client in the Swedish Maritime Authority’s client register. You can apply for an EORI number from Swedish Customs.
Apply for an EORI number (in Swedish).
Contact the Swedish Maritime Authority’s MSW support to be registered as a client. Contact information can be found at the bottom of this page.
When reporting single instances, please contact the office for Shipping Clearance. Contact information can be found at the bottom of this page.
Time limits
Due to the current state of global affairs, in particular the sanctions imposed on Russia, among others, we want to remind you that the time limits for the arrival and departure of vessels must be observed.
The request for compliance with departure and departure manifest obligations will be made directly at the estimated time of departure (ETD), if the information has not already been provided.
You need to provide prior notification for your vessel at least 24 hours before the vessel calls at the port. Vessels making trips of less than 24 hours are exempt from this rule. If your ship will be calling at several ports, you need to provide prior notification before arriving at each port.
When your ship is leaving a port, you need to submit a notification before the ship picks up cargo or passengers under customs supervision. If you are not picking up any cargo or passengers, you still need to submit a notification before the vessel leaves the last place before leaving the Swedish customs territory.
From 3 June 2024, entry summary declarations and arrival notifications for maritime transport should be submitted in the new common Import Control System (ICS2).
Entry summary declaration for goods transported by sea.
There are also other time limits to consider:
- Reference to the entry summary declaration for all cargo in cases where the vessel arrives directly from outside the EU customs territory. The call must be completed with reference to the entry summary declaration at least two hours before arrival. Reference to entry summary declarations for cargo to be unloaded should also be made prior to the arrival of the vessel.
- The actual time of arrival (ATA) should be provided on arrival.
- Actual time of departure (ATD) should be provided upon departure.
- Supporting documents for arriving cargo should be provided at the latest on arrival.
- Supporting documents for departing cargo should be provided at the latest on departure.
- Applications for provisioning can be submitted while the vessel is in a Swedish port.
- Requests for delivery of provisions can be submitted while the vessel is in a Swedish port.
Decisions in the MSW
You will receive the following decisions from Swedish Customs in the MSW:
Arrival at port
To call at a port, your vessel must first submit a prior notification. If Swedish Customs allows you to make port, you will receive an electronic message indicating this.
Unloading permit
You will receive an unloading permit when your vessel has made port. In order to obtain consent to unload your goods, you may need to submit entry summary declarations for all cargo on board, and that the approved location requirements have been met. This means that the specified place where the goods are to be stored is a place approved by Customs, or that an import declaration has been pre-lodged if the goods are to be imported directly. An unloading permit does not mean that you can dispatch the goods from the place of unloading.
Approval of the cargo declaration
In order to have your cargo declaration approved by Swedish Customs, you must have declared any goods to be brought into the customs territory of the Union prior to the arrival of the vessel, and the approved location requirements must be met. You must also have made a reference to the entry summary declarations and related transport documents. A reference to the treatment of the cargo to be unloaded needs to be provided (e.g., location of goods code or customs ID). When declaring goods for temporary storage, the manifest must contain information for a declaration for temporary storage in accordance with Chapter 6, Section 2a and Section 6 of the Customs Ordinance. Furthermore, you need to provide information on the customs status of the goods for Union goods and provide the reference (MRN) for PoUS or demonstrate that the value of the goods is less than EUR 15,000.
It is important that you await and confirm the reply from Swedish Customs. If any information is missing, preventing us from making a decision, we will send a request for additional information.
Provisioning
If you have applied for provisioning for a specific occasion or for the delivery of provisions from the ship's stores, Swedish Customs will communicate its decision via the MSW.
Departure permission
Once you have received a departure permission from Swedish Customs in the MSW, your vessel may leave port.
It is important that you await and confirm the reply from Swedish Customs. If any information is missing, preventing us from making a decision, we will send a request for additional information.
Transiting provisions and parts of machines for ships
When a shipment of undeclared goods under the transit procedure arrives at the vessel, you must send a presentation notification with a simultaneous request for unloading:
- If you have access to Swedish Customs’ Online Services, you can use the online service ‘Lossning av gods/proviant till fartyg’ (unloading goods/ship provisions) to apply (in Swedish)
- You may also use the contact form ‘Lossning av gods/proviant till fartyg’ (Unloading goods/ship provisions)
Once Swedish Customs has verified the information, an unloading authorisation will be sent to the email address from which you sent your application.
Once you have received an unloading authorisation, the goods may be unloaded on board the vessel.
Once an inventory has been made, any discrepancies are noted in the transit declaration, which is signed by the captain or an authorised person on board the vessel. The unloading report is uploaded to the MSW no later than three working days after the receipt of the unloading permit. In the absence of a call number, the unloading may be submitted to Swedish Customs by email: fartygsklarering@tullverket.se. Again, the deadline of three working days applies.
Note that this procedure can only be applied to goods where the vessel is the final recipient.
Fall-back procedures
If you experience a breakdown in Swedish Customs’ or the Swedish Maritime Administration's ship clearance system and you need to report data to Swedish Customs or the Swedish Maritime Administration, you need fall-back procedures.
Fall-back procedures for ship clearance (in Swedish).
Do you have any questions regarding the MSW?
MSW Support
MSW Support, a user support service for the MSW, answers questions about how to access and use the portal and handles error reports.
Telephone: 0771-40 00 50
E-mail: support@mswreportal.se
Swedish Customs – Customs clearance of ships
Swedish Customs answers question about what information the report should include.
Telephone: 08-456 65 61 (daytime 8–16)
Telephone: 08-456 65 60 (outside office hours)
E-mail: fartygsklarering@tullverket.se
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