Comparison of customs warehouses and temporary storage

Customs warehouse

Yes. The customs warehousing procedure is a special procedure and therefore a customs procedure. No authorisation is required to apply the customs warehousing procedure itself; however, an authorisation is required to operate a storage facility for customs warehousing.

Union Customs Code, Articles 5(16) and 211(1)(b)

Approved place

Goods in temporary storage at an approved place must be held at a temporary storage facility or another approved place. You must apply for and be granted authorisation for these locations to operate them. There are two types of approved places where goods can be held in temporary storage: Temporary storage facility and Other approved place.

Temporary storage is not a customs procedure.

Customs warehouse

To place goods under the customs warehousing procedure, you must lodge a customs declaration with Swedish Customs.

Union Customs Code, Article 158

Temporary storage facility

To place goods in temporary storage, you must lodge a temporary storage declaration with Swedish Customs.

Union Customs Code, Article 145

Other approved place

Same rules as for a temporary storage facility.

Customs warehouse

The duration of storage in a customs warehouse is unlimited.

Union Customs Code, Article 238

Temporary storage facility

The time limit for storage in a temporary storage facility is 90 days.
Union Customs Code, Article 149

Other approved place

The time limit for storage at another approved place is 3 days, or 6 days if the goods arrive under transit.

UCC Delegated Regulation, Article 115

Customs warehouse

The person responsible for the procedure and the authorisation holder share joint responsibility for goods placed under the customs warehousing procedure and stored in a customs warehouse.

Union Customs Code, Article 242

Temporary storage facility

The authorisation holder is responsible for the storage of goods in a temporary storage facility.

Union Customs Code, Article 147.3

Other approved place

Same rules as for a temporary storage facility.

Customs warehouse

You may lodge a customs declaration up to 30 days in advance. If the goods have not been presented within 30 days, the declaration is deemed not to have been lodged.

Union Customs Code, Article 171

Temporary storage facility

You may lodge a temporary storage declaration in advance and subsequently notify the arrival of the goods within 30 days. If the goods have not been presented within this time period, the declaration is invalidated by Swedish Customs.

Union Customs Code, Article 146

Other approved place

Same rules as for a temporary storage facility.

Customs warehouse

There are two types of facilities for storage in a customs warehouse: public and private. There are three types of public customs warehouses; in Sweden, Public Customs Warehouse Type I is predominantly used.

Concepts and responsibilities in the customs warehousing procedure

UCC Article 240(2); UCC Delegated Regulation Article 203

Temporary storage facility

There is only one type of temporary storage facility.

Union Customs Code, Article 148

Other approved place

There is only one type of other approved place.

UCC Delegated Regulation, Article 115

Customs warehouse

Approved customs records are required to obtain an authorisation to operate a storage facility for customs warehousing.

Record-keeping requirements for customs warehouses

UCC Article 214; UCC Delegated Regulation Article 178.

Temporary storage facility

Approved records are required to obtain an authorisation for a temporary storage facility.

Temporary storage facility

UCC Article 148.4; UCC Delegated Regulation Article 116.

Other approved place

An electronic record-keeping system is not required for another approved place. However, the holder of the decision must ensure customs supervision and be able to demonstrate, for instance, which goods arrived at and left the location upon request by Swedish Customs. This may be done via manual logging/book-keeping.

Customs warehouse

Movement of goods under customs warehousing storage is permitted. Permissible movements are specified in detail in UCC Delegated Regulation Article 179(3).

Movement of goods

UCC Article 219; UCC Delegated Regulation Article 179.3.

Temporary storage facility

Movement of goods in temporary storage is only permitted if Swedish Customs has approved it in the authorisation for the temporary storage facility.

Movement of goods

UCC Article 148(5); UCC Delegated Regulation Article 118.

Other approved place

Movement of goods located at another approved place is not permitted.

Customs warehouse

Usual forms of handling are permitted for goods stored in a customs warehouse. What constitutes usual forms of handling is set out in Annex 71-03 of the UCC Delegated Regulation. All handling must be reflected in the customs records.

Handling goods in a customs warehouse

Union Customs Code, Article 220.

Temporary storage facility

Handling goods in a temporary storage facility is not permitted. Only such handling as is designed to ensure their preservation in an unaltered state is allowed (e.g., transferring goods to new packaging if necessary to prevent destruction). All handling and the reason for it must be reflected in the records.

Union Customs Code, Article 147.2.

Other approved place

Same rules as for a temporary storage facility.

Customs warehouse

Storage of Union goods in a storage facility for customs warehousing is permitted. Accounting segregation may be used here. Note that this does not mean the goods may be physically commingled; it must be possible to distinguish the customs status of the goods in the records. For example, if you store apples in bulk, you may not store apples with Union status in the same container as apples with non-Union status, as it would be impossible to determine which apples hold which status. The authorisation must specify that the authorisation holder is permitted to store Union goods.

Storage of Union goods in a customs warehouse

UCC Article 237.3; UCC Delegated Regulation Article 177.

Temporary storage facility

Storage of Union goods in a temporary storage facility is permitted. However, accounting segregation alone is not permitted; therefore, the physical warehouse space must clearly indicate which goods hold Union status and which do not. The authorisation must state that the authorisation holder is permitted to store Union goods in a temporary storage facility.

Union Customs Code, Article 148.6.

Other approved place

Storage of Union goods at another approved place is not permitted.

Customs warehouse

Permitted in a storage facility for customs warehousing, provided the authorisation holder has specific authorisation for this.

UCC Articles 237.3 and 223.

Temporary storage facility

Not permitted in a temporary storage facility.

Other approved place

Same rules as for a temporary storage facility.

Customs warehouse

Retail sale is normally not permitted in a storage facility for customs warehousing. However, certain exceptions apply where retail sale is allowed.

UCC Delegated Regulation, Article 201.

Temporary storage facility

Retail sale is never permitted in a temporary storage facility.

UCC Delegated Regulation, Article 117a.

Other approved place

Same rules as for a temporary storage facility.

Customs warehouse

An authorisation is required to operate a storage facility for customs warehousing. The authorisation holder must operate the facility directly.

UCC Article 211(1)(b).

Temporary storage facility

An authorisation is required to operate a temporary storage facility. The authorisation holder must operate the facility directly.

UCC Article 148; UCC Delegated Regulation Article 117c.

Other approved place

A decision from Swedish Customs is required to operate another approved place. The authorisation holder must operate the facility directly.

UCC Article 148; UCC Delegated Regulation Article 117c.

Customs warehouse

Swedish Customs may require specially equipped premises for a customs warehouse facility if the stored goods present a hazard or are likely to spoil other goods.

UCC Delegated Regulation, Article 202.

Temporary storage facility

Swedish Customs may require specially equipped premises for a temporary storage facility if the stored goods present a hazard or are likely to spoil other goods.

UCC Delegated Regulation Article 117b.

Other approved place

Same rules as for a temporary storage facility.

Customs warehouse

The customs warehousing procedure and storage in a customs warehouse are discharged when the goods are placed under another customs procedure or re-exported. Re-export is effected via a re-export declaration, and the customs warehousing procedure is only discharged once the consignment has left the customs territory of the Union.

UCC Articles 270.1 and 215.

Temporary storage facility

Temporary storage ends when the goods are placed under a customs procedure or re-exported. Re-export is effected via a re-export notification.

UCC Articles 149 and 270(3)(c).

Other approved place

Temporary storage ends when the goods are placed under a customs procedure or re-exported. Re-export is effected via a re-export notification.

UCC Delegated Regulation, Article 115