Sailing pleasure boats across Sweden’s border
If you sail into Sweden from a country outside the EU, you can temporarily have your boat in Sweden for 18 months without paying any charges.
Pleasure boat is defined as a boat that:
- is for private use only (i.e. not for commercial use)
- sails on “its own keel”
- only has supplies, food and personal belongings for/of the people aboard.
Notify Swedish Customs
If you bring your pleasure boat to Sweden from a country outside the EU (e.g. Norway), you do not need to give notification to Swedish Customs. This applies: while you yourself remain in Sweden; and, for no more than 18 months. As soon as you leave Sweden, you must sail the boat back. If you choose to leave the boat in Sweden, you must give Swedish Customs notification of this and submit an import notification.
You may have to give notification to Swedish Customs if you are carrying certain goods when you sail a pleasure boat across Sweden’s border. The rules vary depending on where you are coming from and what goods you are carrying on the boat.
Read about goods to which special rules apply.
You give notification of the goods at one of our customs clearance offices.
All customs clearance offices in Sweden
If the office is closed, you can submit your notification (at any time of day) to Swedish Customs’ intelligence and communications centre:
Telephone: +46 8 405 05 70
Fax: +46 8 654 06 11
Email: tuk@tullverket.se
Goods worth more than SEK 3,300
If you are travelling to Sweden from a country outside the EU and are bringing in goods (purchased while travelling abroad) to a value of more than SEK 3,300, you have to pay customs duty, VAT and any other taxes on the goods. The same applies to goods for commercial use.
The powers of Swedish Customs and the Swedish Coast Guard
If Swedish Customs or the Swedish Coast Guard suspect that a boat’s commander or passengers are breaking any rules, the authorities’ officers are empowered to carry out a so-called customs control. In a customs control, all the people aboard must submit the details and show the documents required by the officers. The commander of a pleasure boat is under an obligation to help with the control.
To check the details that have been submitted, the officers of Swedish Customs and the Swedish Coast Guard are entitled to examine all areas aboard the boat. So that examinations can be carried out satisfactorily, they can require the boat to be taken to another place. They can also seal off all areas aboard the boat or implement other measures that they consider necessary.
The officers of Swedish Customs and the Swedish Coast Guard can stop a pleasure boat by hailing it.
Officers can hail a boat in several ways:
- Giving the L or SO signal via flag, radio or, visually or audibly, Morse signals.
- Showing a stop paddle.
- Giving an oral order.
- Giving a long blast on a siren or similar device.
A pleasure boat that is hailed must stop immediately.
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