The legislation governing the data content and the codes used in the customs declaration can sometimes be hard to interpret. Finnish Customs has provided some explanatory texts to make the declaration process easier. The declarants and those submitting the declarations are responsible for following the customs legislation. For example, if the explanatory text for a declaration data item refers to certain special provisions, the declarants should inform themselves of the content of these provisions.
" }, "technicalInstructions": { "title": "Technical instructions", "html": "The message flow and data requirements are based on the Union Customs Code (UCC) of the European Union and more closely on the data requirement tables in the Delegated and Implementing Acts (UCC DA and IA respectively) and the EU customs data model (EUCDM) defined therein, but are amended to meet the national requirements. Whenever possible, the messages are mapped to the EUCDM and the underlying World Customs Organization Data Model (WCO DM) version 3.10.0 . It is possible, that the messages will need to be amended, when further mapping projects against the WCO DM are undertaken to maximize compatibility of the messages between the different member states.
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.
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.
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. A period is used as a decimal separator. 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 |
The codes for data presentation are:
| R | required |
| D | dependant |
| O | optional |
| N | not used |
Numeric data is always positive, no plus sign (+) is sent. A period must be used for a decimal separator. Leading zeros can be used, they are not used by the Finnish Customs.
" } }, "pageTitles": { "dataRequirements": "Data requirements", "messageExchange": "Guide for message exchange", "classDiagram": "Class diagram", "codes": "Codelists", "examples": "Examples" }, "dataRequirements": { "viewMode": { "section": "Display", "title": "View mode", "split": "Split view", "table": "Single table" }, "tabOrder": { "title": "Tab order", "default": "Default order", "alphabetical": "Alphabetical" }, "sections": { "groups": "Data groups", "elements": "Data elements", "dataStructure": "Data structure" }, "tableHeaders": { "data": "Data", "dataGroup": "Data group", "dataElement": "Data element", "validation": "Validation", "cardinality": "Cardinality", "format": "Format", "formatCardinality": "Format / cardinality", "path": "Path", "codeList": "Code list", "constraints": "Constraints" }, "tableHeaderHelp": { "data": "Data group or data element in the message structure.", "dataGroup": "Data group in the message structure.", "dataElement": "Individual data element in the message structure.", "validation": "Message-specific validation status, such as required, optional, or conditional.", "cardinality": "Maximum number of times the data group may occur in the message.", "format": "Allowed format of the data element.", "formatCardinality": "For data elements, the allowed format. For data groups, the allowed cardinality.", "path": "XML path of the data group or data element in the message schema.", "pathGroup": "XML path of the data group in the message schema.", "pathElement": "XML path of the data element in the message schema.", "codeList": "Code list containing the allowed values for the data element.", "constraints": "Rules and conditions that apply to the data." }, "constraintModal": { "notFound": "Constraint not found:" }, "showAll": "Show all", "subset": "Subset", "updated": "Data requirements updated." }, "messageExchangePage": { "generalInformation": "General information", "messages": "Messages", "useCases": "Use cases", "incomingMessages": "Messages from economic operator to Customs", "outgoingMessages": "Customs' response messages", "caseLabel": "Use case", "loadError": "Error loading message exchange data.", "sequenceRenderError": "The sequence diagram could not be rendered." }, "examples": { "downloadXml": "Download XML", "noExamples": "No XML examples." }, "codesPage": { "updatedPrefix": "Code lists updated", "introHtml": "Code lists not published on this page are also used in customs declarations. For example, VAT rate codes beginning with Q and additional excise codes beginning with V are used as national additional codes. You can find these codes as well as the Taric additional codes in the Fintaric service here.
", "loading": "Loading code lists...", "validityDate": "Date of validity", "dateInstruction": "Focus the field to open the calendar. Use Tab to move between controls, the arrow keys to move between dates, and Enter or Space to select. Press Escape to close the calendar.", "searchWithinContents": "Search within contents", "searchInstruction": "Search results update automatically as you type.", "searchPlaceholder": "Search term", "loadError": "Error loading code data.", "updated": "Code lists updated.", "downloadXml": "Download XML", "downloadJson": "Download JSON", "datePicker": { "labels": { "calendar": "Calendar", "navigation": "Calendar navigation", "nextMonth": "Next month", "previousMonth": "Previous month", "nextYears": "Next list of years", "previousYears": "Previous list of years", "selectMonth": "Select month, current selected month:", "months": "List of months", "selectYear": "Select year, current selected year:", "years": "List of years", "week": "Days of the week", "dates": "Dates in the current month" }, "daysOfWeek": [ "Su", "Mo", "Tu", "We", "Th", "Fr", "Sa" ], "monthNames": [ "January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December" ] } }, "dataModel": { "messageFilter": "Messages", "allMessages": "All messages", "messagesSelected": "messages selected", "noMessagesFound": "No messages found.", "accessibleDiagram": "Class diagram as text", "classes": "Classes", "dataElements": "Data elements", "relationships": "Relationships", "parentClass": "Parent class", "childClass": "Child class", "parentCardinality": "Parent cardinality", "childCardinality": "Child cardinality", "diagramControls": "Class diagram controls", "panLeft": "Pan diagram left", "panRight": "Pan diagram right", "panUp": "Pan diagram up", "panDown": "Pan diagram down", "zoomIn": "Zoom in", "zoomOut": "Zoom out", "resetView": "Reset diagram view", "updated": "Class diagram updated." }, "codeLists": { "tableHeaders": { "code": "Code", "name": "Name", "validity": "Validity" }, "pagination": { "label": "Code list pagination", "first": "First page", "previous": "Previous page", "next": "Next page", "last": "Last page", "page": "Page", "current": "Current page" }, "noItemsForDate": "No code values are valid on the selected date.", "notFound": "Code list not found:", "filterEnabled": "Yes", "filterDisabled": "No" }, "browserModal": { "title": "Browser incompatibility detected", "body": "Some features required for the full functionality of this page are not available on your current browser. Browsers known to work are: Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge.", "close": "Close" }, "footer": "© Finnish Customs 2026", "intro": { "version": "Version", "more": "More", "noKnownErrors": "No known errors.", "noVersionChanges": "No version specific notes.", "showDetails": "Details", "showAllVersions": "Show all versions", "noSchemaDownloads": "XML schemas are not available.", "versionHistoryHeaders": [ "Version and date", "Reason for amendment", "Schema", "Data requirements", "Guide for message exchange" ], "yes": "Yes", "no": "No", "print": "Print" }, "seo": { "brand": "Finnish Customs", "descriptions": { "home": "Message implementation guidelines", "dataRequirements": "Data requirements for customs messages", "messageExchange": "Message exchange guide and use cases", "classDiagram": "Class diagram for customs messages", "codes": "Code lists used in customs messages", "examples": "XML examples of customs messages" } } }