Export declaration for road freight leaving the EU: who files it and when

When a truck load needs an export declaration

A truck load needs an export declaration when EU goods leave the EU customs territory, for example for Norway, Switzerland or the United Kingdom. The Union Customs Code places such goods under the export procedure. The European Commission says the procedure applies with few exceptions. Loads between EU countries need no export declaration.

The declaration goes electronically into AES, the EU Automated Export System. The exporter or its representative files it at the customs office where the exporter is established, or where the goods are packed or loaded. Our guide to customs inside the EU explains the documents for loads that stay in the EU.

For road transport, the export declaration also serves as the pre-departure declaration, with the data customs needs for safety checks. It is due at the latest one hour before the goods leave the EU customs territory. Under EU rules, the carrier may load the goods for exit once it has the MRN and the other exit details.

Who does what and when: exporter, customs broker, carrier and buyer

Four parties share the work on an export load: the exporter, its customs broker, the carrier and the buyer. Customs offices at the start and at the EU border complete it. The table follows one load from the sales contract to the exit confirmation. Write one name next to each row in your company.

When you book a load outside the EU with RNJ Transport, our partner customs broker can be the broker in this table. The broker prepares the export declaration and, if you need it, the import declaration. You order the customs papers and the transport together, and you keep one contact person for both.

Data and documents for the customs broker

A customs broker can lodge the export declaration only with complete data. The Union Customs Code requires the declarant to be able to give all the information the procedure needs. So the broker asks the exporter for the data before loading. Send it when the goods are packed, so the truck does not wait for the papers.

Economic operators established in the EU register with customs. The EORI number is the registration number, and it is unique in the whole EU customs territory. Check your EORI number with your customs broker before the first export load.

A customs broker can act as your customs representative in two ways. In direct representation, the broker acts in your name and on your behalf. In indirect representation, the broker acts in its own name but on your behalf. Your customs broker confirms which form fits your goods.

As a main rule, the declarant must be established in the EU. In EU customs law, the exporter is also a person established in the EU. When a buyer outside the EU sends its own truck, agree in writing who lodges the export declaration and in whose name.

• The commercial invoice with the seller, the buyer, the description of the goods, the value and the currency.
• The packing list with the number of packages and the gross and net weight.
• The exporter’s EORI number.
• The commodity code of each item.
• The country of origin of the goods.
• The Incoterms rule and the delivery address.
• The truck and trailer numbers. We send them to you before loading.
• Any licence or certificate the goods need for export.

MRN and the exit confirmation

The MRN, the Master Reference Number, is the registration number that customs gives to a declaration. The driver presents the goods with the MRN at the customs office of exit. That office tells the office of export that the goods left, and the office of export certifies the exit to the declarant or the exporter.

On a road load, the customs office of exit is usually the office for the place where the goods leave the EU. If the goods travel under transit after export, the office of departure of the transit acts as the office of exit. Where the two offices differ, the office of exit sends its message by the next working day after the goods leave.

The exit confirmation matters for accounting. The EU VAT Directive exempts goods transported outside the EU, and each EU country sets the conditions. Your Europe, the EU portal for businesses, says an exporter must show documents that prove the goods left the EU. The exit confirmation from customs is the usual evidence. This is general information, not tax advice. Ask your accountant which documents your tax office expects.

The office of export may wait for the exit message. After 90 days from the release for export, it may ask the declarant for the date and the office of exit. If the office of exit gives no answer, the declarant can send other evidence. The Implementing Regulation names examples: a delivery note signed by the consignee outside the EU, proof of payment, the invoice, a document from the company that took the goods out, or a document processed by customs in an EU or a non-EU country.

Transit under NCTS: T1 and T2

Transit lets goods travel under customs control from one customs office to another. Import duties and taxes are suspended on the way, and customs clearance takes place at the destination. The transit declaration goes into NCTS, the New Computerised Transit System. A load to or from Norway, Switzerland or the United Kingdom can travel this way.

T1 is used mainly for non-Union goods. An example is a load from Norway to Lithuania that is cleared in Lithuania instead of at the EU border. T2 is used mainly for Union goods, for example export goods that travel to or through a common transit country. Your customs broker chooses the type for your load.

The holder of the transit procedure presents the goods intact at the customs office of destination within the time limit, and provides a guarantee. A carrier that accepts goods knowing that they move under transit is also responsible for presenting them intact. So the driver keeps any customs seals and the documents unchanged until the office of destination.

The common transit procedure links the EU with Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Türkiye, North Macedonia, Serbia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Montenegro. The European Commission says its rules are the same as those of Union transit.

Import in Norway, the United Kingdom and Switzerland

After the goods leave the EU, the customs rules of the destination country apply. In Norway, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the goods need an import declaration there. Usually the buyer or its customs broker makes it. The Incoterms rule in the sales contract decides who arranges and pays for each declaration, as our Incoterms guide explains.

Norway also requires Digitoll data for every truck that brings goods in. Our blog post on Digitoll gives the dates, the messages and who sends them. Our country pages for the United Kingdom and Switzerland list the documents for those routes.

RNJ Transport arranges full truckloads between Lithuania and Norway with checked partner carriers, and loads to the United Kingdom and Switzerland on request. Our partner customs broker prepares the export and import declarations, ordered together with the transport. You keep one contact person and get one invoice for the transport. We do not transport goods to or from Russia or Belarus.

Document checklist before an export load leaves

Use this list for each load to Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or another country outside the EU. Write who in your company prepares each item. Your customs broker confirms the details for your goods.