7. Use and return of an import or export licence

7.1. General remarks on fulfilling obligations and proof thereof

A se­cu­rity may be re­leased when the obli­ga­tions spec­i­fied in the im­port or ex­port li­cence have been ful­filled and proof thereof has been de­liv­ered to the au­thor­ity is­su­ing the li­cence, within the spec­i­fied time pe­riod. The obli­ga­tion to re­lease prod­ucts for free cir­cu­la­tion or to ex­port them is con­sid­ered ful­filled when the en­tire quan­tity of prod­ucts spec­i­fied in the li­cence has cleared cus­toms through the ap­pro­pri­ate pro­ce­dure dur­ing the pe­riod of va­lid­ity of the li­cence. The quan­tity of prod­ucts re­leased for free cir­cu­la­tion on an im­port li­cence or ex­ported on an ex­port li­cence may dif­fer from the quan­tity spec­i­fied in the li­cence by +/-5%.

An im­port or ex­port li­cence is­sued in Fin­land must be re­turned to the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity af­ter the ap­pro­pri­ate en­dorse­ments have been en­tered on it by Cus­toms. Elec­tronic li­cences must be re­turned through the Elec­tronic im­port and ex­port li­cence ser­vice, and pa­per li­cences must be mailed to the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity . The li­cence must al­ways be re­turned, even if it has not been used dur­ing its pe­riod of va­lid­ity.

7.1.1. Fulfilling an import licence obligation and proof of same

An im­port li­cence must be re­turned to the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity within 60 days of its ex­piry. Re­turn­ing the im­port li­cence with Cus­toms en­dorse­ments to the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity within those 60 days is taken as proof that the obli­ga­tion de­rived from the im­port li­cence has been ful­filled. The se­cu­rity will be re­leased if the im­port obli­ga­tion has been ful­filled and the used li­cence has been re­turned within the spec­i­fied time pe­riod.

The obli­ga­tion to re­lease prod­ucts for free cir­cu­la­tion is con­sid­ered com­pletely ful­filled when the en­tire quan­tity of prod­ucts spec­i­fied in the li­cence has cleared cus­toms through the ap­pro­pri­ate pro­ce­dure and the prod­ucts have ac­tu­ally been re­leased for free cir­cu­la­tion.

7.1.2. Fulfilling an export licence obligation and proof of same

With an ex­port li­cence, the prod­ucts must exit the Union cus­toms ter­ri­tory within 150 cal­en­dar days of the date of ap­proval of the cus­toms dec­la­ra­tion. As proof of ful­fill­ing the ex­port obli­ga­tion, the cus­tomer must re­turn to the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity both the ex­port li­cence with Cus­toms en­dorse­ments and the exit cer­ti­fi­ca­tion is­sued by the exit cus­toms of­fice to the ex­porter or cus­toms rep­re­sen­ta­tive by email tuovi(@)ruokavi­rasto.fi.

If the ex­port li­cence is used else­where in the EU, the tit­u­lar holder must con­sult the cus­toms au­thor­ity in the Mem­ber State in ques­tion as to the pro­ce­dure for exit cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. The ex­porter or cus­toms rep­re­sen­ta­tive must sub­mit proof of the exit of the prod­ucts to the tit­u­lar holder, who must then de­liver the proof in elec­tronic for­mat to the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity (by e-mail to tuovi@ruokavi­rasto.fi). If the exit cer­ti­fi­ca­tion is re­voked be­cause of rec­ti­fi­ca­tions made by the exit cus­toms of­fice, the exit cus­toms of­fice will no­tify the ex­porter or cus­toms rep­re­sen­ta­tive, who in turn must no­tify the tit­u­lar holder, who must no­tify the au­thor­ity is­su­ing the li­cence.

In ad­di­tion to the afore­men­tioned exit cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, the tit­u­lar holder must sub­mit to the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity the Move­ment Reg­is­tra­tion Num­ber (MRN) in the fol­low­ing cases:

• if there are more than one Mem­ber State in­volved in the ex­port pro­ce­dure, or

• if the exit cus­toms of­fice is in a Mem­ber State other than the Mem­ber State of the au­thor­ity is­su­ing the li­cence, or

• if the MRN is used in an ex­port pro­ce­dure com­pleted in the Mem­ber State where the ex­port no­ti­fi­ca­tion was sub­mit­ted.

The Finnish Food Au­thor­ity  must re­ceive proof of ex­port and of the exit of the prod­ucts from the Union cus­toms ter­ri­tory within 180 cal­en­dar days of the ex­piry of the li­cence. The obli­ga­tion to ex­port the prod­ucts is con­sid­ered com­pletely ful­filled when the en­tire quan­tity of prod­ucts spec­i­fied in the li­cence has cleared cus­toms through the ap­pro­pri­ate pro­ce­dure.

7.2. Late return of a licence

If a used im­port or ex­port li­cence (and proof of its use) is re­turned to the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity late, the tit­u­lar holder will for­feit part of the se­cu­rity even if the li­cence has been fully used. If the de­lay is due to tech­ni­cal prob­lems, the Finnish Food Au­thor­ity may ex­tend the dead­line at the re­quest of the tit­u­lar holder for a max­i­mum of 730 cal­en­dar days. The tit­u­lar holder must then de­liver the proof of re­lease for free cir­cu­la­tion or of ex­port as re­quired, af­ter the orig­i­nal dead­line. If the dead­line is ex­tended, the pro­vi­sions con­cern­ing the graded with­hold­ing of the se­cu­rity given in Ar­ti­cle 23(4) of the Com­mis­sion Del­e­gated Reg­u­la­tion (EU) 907/2014 will be