The message flow and data requirements are based on the CEN (European Committee for Standardization) Worshop Agreement CWA 14729-2:2005.

The messages are sent by using XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) syntax.

One interchange includes one message only.

Messages must conform to the XML specifications provied. If a message includes additional data and this does not cause an error message, the Finnish Customs processes the message as if the additional data was not included in the message.

Class diagram and data requirements

Dates and times are declared with time zone information. If no time zone information is provided Finnish time (EET/EEST) is assumed. Dates and times are formatted according to XML specifications, corresponding to ISO standard 8601. For example:

2010-09-29
2012-02-29T12:30:05
1997-07-16T19:20:30.45+01:00

Further information on declaring dates can be found e.g. at: http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime.

Format

The data and length is in the column "Format". The codes for the different types of data are:

a	alphabetic
n	numeric
an	alphanumeric

The number after the code indicates the maximum length of the data entry. Two periods before the indication of the length means that the data entry is not of a determined length, but that it may include a number of characters up to the number indicated. A decimal between two numbers indicates that decimals are used and the second number indicates the maximum number of decimals. For example:

an..35	alphanumeric data up to 35 digits
a2	alphabetic data; 2 digits
n..15,2	numeric data up to 15 digits, including maximum 2 (floating) decimals

Presentation (RDO)

The codes for data presentation are:

R	required
D	dependant
O	optional

Numeric data is always positive, no plus sign (+) is sent. A period or a comma can be used for a decimal separator, Finnish Customs uses a comma. Leading zeros can be used, they are not used by the Finnish Customs.