Selling and shipping goods to Norway – the complete guide

First: which track applies to you?

Everything hinges on one question: is the receiver paying for the goods? If you're selling, the commercial invoice is the customs document, and that's what this guide covers. If you're shipping something that isn't paid for – samples, gifts, warranty replacements, returns – the proforma track applies instead, and we have a separate guide for it.

Step 1: The commercial invoice – the document that drives everything

Customs authorities on both sides of the border read your invoice, so it must be complete. Beyond the usual invoice content (invoice number, date, price per item type, total amount, payment terms), it needs:

• Seller's name, address and company registration/VAT number
• Buyer's name, address and phone number – plus the buyer's Norwegian organisation number if it's a business. Goods are cleared on whoever is listed as receiver, and the wrong receiver is the most common error at Norwegian import
• Detailed goods description per item type – "folding bicycle, 20-inch", not "sports equipment"
• Quantity, packages and weight (gross, ideally net too)
• Country of origin per item type – where the goods were manufactured, not where they ship from
• One single currency throughout the invoice
• Delivery terms (Incoterm), e.g. DAP Oslo – see step 5 for why this matters a lot
• The real price. The customs value in Norway is the price the buyer actually pays – an "adjusted" invoice value is a wrong assessment and must be corrected afterwards

Step 2: EORI number and commodity codes

To act as exporter in the customs declaration, your company needs an EORI number. It's free, applied for at Swedish Customs, and usually issued quickly – do it before your first deal, not the day the truck arrives.

Each item type also has a commodity code (HS number) that determines any duty and is required in the declarations. If you know your codes, put them on the invoice. If not, we'll classify the goods for you.

Step 3: Duty relief with an origin declaration

Norway has a free-trade arrangement with the EU. Goods with EU preferential origin – manufactured in the EU under the agreement's rules, not just bought here – can be imported duty-free into Norway. For your buyer to get that relief, proof of origin is required:

• Up to NOK 65,000 of originating goods per shipment: write an origin declaration (invoice declaration) directly on the invoice – any exporter may do this
• Above that: approved-exporter authorisation or an EUR.1 movement certificate
• The declaration is ONLY valid with a signature or authorisation number – unsigned, it's worthless
• Most industrial goods become duty-free with valid proof; food and agricultural goods can still carry duty – the commodity code decides, and we'll check it for you

Step 4: The export declaration in Sweden

Every export to Norway requires a customs declaration to Swedish Customs – regardless of value, even for a single pallet. The declaration states, among other things, the invoice number, invoiced amount, currency and the statistical value (the goods' value plus freight to the Swedish border). The supporting documents must be presentable for five years.

This is your forwarder's home turf: we make sure the declaration is filed and the exit is reported at the border. Your job is that the invoice and the details in steps 1–3 are correct.

Step 5: Norwegian import – duty, VAT and who pays

On the Norwegian side, the goods are declared in the customs system TVINN with the commercial invoice as the basis, and the carrier reports the shipment digitally to Norwegian Customs at the latest when crossing the border. That's handled within the transport setup – but two things affect your deal directly:

• If your buyer is a VAT-registered Norwegian business, nothing is paid at the border – the buyer self-assesses the import VAT in its VAT return. That's why the invoice value must be right: it becomes the buyer's accounting basis
• If the receiver is a private individual or unregistered, Norwegian VAT (and any duty) is charged at import and billed to the receiver
• The Incoterm decides who bears the charges: DAP = the buyer pays Norwegian charges, DDP = you as seller take them. Agree it in the quote – not at the border

If something changes afterwards

If the final invoice shows a different amount than declared, correction is an obligation, not a choice – in Norway via an amendment message in TVINN, in Sweden via Swedish Customs' amendment service, in both countries within three years. And if you already know at loading that exact details are missing, formal procedures exist for precisely that (simplified/preliminary declarations completed within ten days) – tell us, and we'll pick the right route from the start.

Common mistakes that cost time and money

Norwegian Customs itself points to deficient invoices as a main cause of delays. The classics:

• Wrong receiver on the invoice – the goods are cleared on the wrong party
• A "friendly" invoice value – gives wrong duty and VAT, plus a correction obligation afterwards
• Unsigned origin declaration – the duty relief is lost
• An Incoterm that was never agreed – disputes over who pays Norwegian charges
• Vague goods description, or country of origin confused with country of dispatch
• Applying for EORI on loading day