Customs office of exit
The customs office of exit is where the goods leave the EU, often a different office from the office of export, where the declaration is lodged. If the goods are loaded in a port in another EU country, they must be presented to customs there.
Two offices, two roles
An export passes two customs offices. One receives the declaration, the other sees the goods leave the union. They are often in different cities and sometimes in different countries.
- Receives the presentation
- Whoever presents the goods states the movement reference number from the export declaration. Without it the presentation cannot be tied to the case.
- Examines
- The check is made against the particulars sent over by the customs office of export. Missing or excess goods are handled here.
- Supervises
- Once goods are released for exit the office supervises them until they actually leave the customs territory of the union.
- Reports back
- If the office of exit lies in a different country from the office of export, the exit must be notified at the latest the working day after.
What the office of exit does
The order at the end is the part most often described wrongly. The office of exit confirms the goods left the union, but it is the office of export that issues the certificate of exit to you.
The office of export is decided by where you are. The office of exit is decided by where the goods get out. Rarely the same question.
The code
Every customs office in the union has an eight character code. It must be stated in the declaration, and a wrong code is one of the commonest reasons an export case stalls.
- Eight characters
- A country code plus six characters. Swedish codes use digits after the country code, other countries also use letters.
- Arendal
- SE603303. The Gothenburg Arendal clearance office. The code stayed with it through the move to new premises in 2025.
- Bremerhaven
- DE002452. The number 2452 is German customs’ office number for that office.
- Where to look it up
- The European Commission’s Customs Office List. For Swedish offices, Swedish Customs publish their own lists.
What the code looks like
The Swedish term changed with the Union Customs Code. The older word survives in old regulations and on a field of the export accompanying document. It is the same thing.
When the goods leave via another country
This is where most problems arise. The declaration is lodged in Sweden but the goods are loaded in a German or Dutch port. The arrival notification and the exit notification must then go to customs in that country, not in Sweden.
The rules also allow the goods to be presented at an office of exit other than the one stated in the declaration, which rescues many consignments whose route changed. The condition is that the movement reference number travels with the transport. That number, and how it differs from your own reference, is on the page about the LRN number.
The place where goods are presented
Presentation happens either at a customs office or at a place Swedish Customs have approved for the purpose. With an approved place the transport avoids a stop, and we describe that on the page about approved places and location codes.
Read on
More on how exports work, whatever the country, is on our page about exporting from Sweden.
Common questions
What is the difference from the customs office of export?
The office of export is where the declaration is lodged. It follows from where the exporter is established, or where the goods are packed or loaded for export. The office of exit is where the goods actually leave the union.
For a consignment from Gothenburg leaving by ship from Gothenburg it is often the same place. For a consignment travelling by road through Denmark and Germany and shipping from Bremerhaven it is two different countries. That is when the difference starts to matter.
What happens if the goods leave via another country?
It works, but the presentation must then be made to customs in that country. If the actual office of exit lies in another member state, that office requests the declaration particulars from your office of export.
In practice that means the arrival notification and the exit notification go to the same member state. If the office of exit is Swedish they are lodged in Sweden, if it is German they are lodged in Germany.
Can I present at a different office from the one I declared?
Yes. The rules expressly allow the goods to be presented at an office of exit other than the one stated in the declaration. That is exactly why a route that changes in transit need not sink the case. But it assumes the movement reference number travels along, and that somebody actually presents the goods at the new place.
Does the office of exit collect duty?
In practice no. The rules keep the possibility open and mention the collection of export duty among the things that shall happen where applicable on exit, but the EU in practice levies no export duties.
Texts describing charge collection as a routine task for the office of exit therefore give a false picture of what happens at the border. What can stop a consignment is restrictions, licences and controls, not a charge.
Where do I find the right code?
In the European Commission's Customs Office List, the official register of every customs office in the union and what each may handle. For Swedish offices, Swedish Customs publish their own lists, among them one for road traffic between Sweden and Norway. The code is eight characters: the country code plus six more.
Who confirms the goods left the EU?
The office of exit confirms the exit to the office of export, and it is then the office of export that issues the certificate of exit. That order is worth keeping straight, because texts commonly put the certificate at the wrong office. The whole chain is on the page about the new export system.
Is the new export system live now?
Yes. It went into production on 1 October 2024 with an introduction period to 1 December that year, and the transitional rules for export ended on 15 December 2025. A text describing the system as something still to come is therefore at least two years old.
