Goods location code
The goods location code is called a location code now, and codes issued today have four characters. With an approved place you can present goods for export where they stand, instead of driving them to a customs office.
What the code is
Swedish Customs approve a place, your loading bay for instance, and attach a code to it. The code then goes in the export declaration so the authority knows where the goods are if they are to be checked.
- A new name
- Location code for export. Goods location code is the older Swedish term for the same thing, and it lives on in everyday speech.
- Four characters
- Codes issued today are four characters and contain both digits and letters.
- Old codes still work
- Three character codes issued under an earlier decision may still be used. They do not have to be reapplied for.
- Where it goes
- In the data element for the location of the goods, together with the EORI number of the holder of the decision.
Location code for export
The change of name is not merely cosmetic, because a new format came with it. An old three character code keeps working, but a new place gets a four character one.
The decision attaches to an address, not to a company. Move the loading elsewhere and a new decision is needed.
Two decisions that sound alike
This is the commonest confusion in the subject, and it costs time because the wrong application reaches the wrong case officer.
- Approved place of export
- This is where the export declaration is lodged, that is step one. Applied for by the company loading the goods.
- Approved place of exit
- This is where goods are presented to the customs office of exit, that is step two. Applied for by whoever runs the port, airport, rail or postal terminal.
- Same data element
- Both location codes go in the same field of the declaration, which is one reason they get mixed up.
- The requirements
- An EORI number and establishment in the EU. A customs representative may apply on behalf of the holder of the premises.
Export or exit
Where the code goes in the declaration
The location code goes in the data element for the location of the goods, together with the EORI number of the holder of the decision. The declaration is lodged with IE515.
If you meet guidance talking about a three letter message code or about numbered fields, it dates from before the Union Customs Code and before the new export system. Both are discontinued, and the old form structure has been replaced by data elements.
The application
The company needs an EORI number and must be established in the EU. The first application is made on a form signed by an authorised signatory and sent in the original. If you already hold a decision, further places can be registered in Swedish Customs' e-service.
A customs representative may apply on behalf of the holder of the premises, which is the usual route when the flow is handled by a representative anyway.
Read on
More on how exports work, whatever the country, is on our page about exporting from Sweden.
Common questions
Is it a goods location code or a location code?
Location code is the name Swedish Customs use now. Goods location code is the same thing, only older. The question comes up often enough that the authority answers it outright: it is the same thing, and going forward it will be called a location code.
We use both words here, because almost everyone still searches for the old one.
Is the code three letters?
Not any more. Codes issued today are four characters and contain both digits and letters. If you have a three character code from before it still works and need not be reapplied for. Texts saying the code is a three letter code describe how it was, not how it is.
What is the difference from an approved place of exit?
They belong to different steps of the export. At an approved place of export the export declaration is lodged, that is step one. At an approved place of exit the goods are presented to the customs office of exit, that is step two.
They are also applied for by different parties. The place of export is applied for by the company loading, the place of exit by whoever runs the terminal. That both codes go in the same field of the declaration makes the mix-up easy.
How do I apply?
The first time on a form, signed by an authorised signatory and sent in the original to Swedish Customs. After that there is an e-service for registering further places, but it requires that you already hold a base decision. Without one the route is the paper form.
An address must be given, not a stretch of road or an area. That is worth knowing before the application is written, because it governs how many places you need to apply for.
Which message is used?
The export declaration is lodged today with IE515. The older message code that appears in very old guidance is on Swedish Customs' list of discontinued EDI messages. The same goes for references to field numbers on the old single administrative document. That structure has been replaced by data elements.
Is an approved place the same as an approved exporter?
No, and they have nothing to do with each other. An approved place is a decision about a location governing where goods may be presented for export. An approved exporter is an origin concept in free trade, letting you make out an origin declaration on an invoice with no value limit. You can have one without the other.
What do I gain from an approved place?
That the goods can be presented for export where they actually stand, instead of the transport having to detour via a customs office. For flows with regular export that difference does most for the lead time. Which office the goods then leave the union through is a separate question, and it is on the page about the customs office of exit.
