Exporting to Norway: one partner on both sides of the border
Norway is Sweden’s largest export market outside the EU, and every shipment requires customs handling in two countries: an export declaration to Swedish Customs and an import declaration to Norwegian Customs. Most brokers do one of them. We do both, in one flow.
Handled right, you sell free of VAT, your Norwegian customer avoids unnecessary duty and the goods roll across the border without stopping.
What happens when you sell to Norway
Despite the EEA agreement, Norway is, for customs purposes, a country outside the EU. Every delivery goes through three steps, and all three must agree with each other.
Export declaration in Sweden
Lodged electronically with Swedish Customs before the goods leave the country. You get an MRN and, after exit, a proof of exit, your receipt for the VAT exemption.
Digital pre-notification at the border
Norway is digitalising the border crossing with Digitoll, going live on 15 September 2026. The shipment must be pre-notified before the truck reaches the border, or it stops.
Import declaration in Norway
Norwegian Customs sets the VAT and any duty. The details must match the export documents, or controls and retroactive billing await.
Why one partner for the whole chain pays off
Most problems in Norway exports arise at the seams: the export declaration says one thing, the invoice another and the Norwegian import a third. We prepare both the Swedish export and the Norwegian import, so there are no seams where errors can arise.
Digitoll goes live on 15 September 2026
Norwegian Customs is replacing the old border regime with Digitoll, where every shipment is pre-notified digitally before it arrives. On 15 September 2026 the system goes live, and shipments without a correct pre-notification risk being left standing at the border.
For you as an exporter, it means the documents must be ready earlier than before. Invoice, commodity codes and consignee details must be in place before the truck rolls, not when it is standing at Svinesund. Check the Norwegian organisation number before the first shipment, so you know the customer exists and is VAT-registered.
We work daily with both Swedish Customs’ and Norwegian Customs’ systems and make sure your shipment is pre-notified and cleared before it reaches the border.
Before Digitoll
Paper in hand at the border, clearance on the spot and queues when something was missing.
With Digitoll
Everything is notified digitally in advance. Well prepared, the truck crosses the border without stopping. Badly prepared, it is left standing.
In short: the border crossing has moved from the customs station to the documents. Whoever owns the document flow owns the lead time.
The proof of exit is worth 20 per cent of the invoice
Exports to Norway are sold without Swedish VAT. But the exemption is conditional: you must be able to prove that the goods actually left the EU, and the proof is the proof of exit tied to the export declaration’s MRN.
If the proof is missing at an audit, the Swedish Tax Agency can demand Swedish VAT on the sales retroactively. On a year of Norway sales, that quickly becomes very large amounts, for documents that take minutes to get right from the start.
In Norway, your customer pays Norwegian VAT and any duty at import. With the right origin documentation, the duty is often zero, more on that below.
Norway sales of SEK 2 million per year
With proven exit
SEK 0 in Swedish VAT
Without proof at an audit, a risk of
up to SEK 400,000
We secure the MRN and proof of exit for every shipment and deliver the records ready for your bookkeeping.
Give your Norwegian customer duty-free imports
Goods of EU origin can be imported duty-free in Norway thanks to free trade within the EEA. But only if you as the seller include the right origin documentation: a statement on origin on the invoice or a EUR.1 certificate, backed by supplier’s declarations when the goods are not your own manufacture.
This is a sales question as much as a customs question. A Swedish supplier who delivers with correct origin gives their Norwegian customer a lower total cost than the competitor who is careless with the paperwork. The wrong origin wording, on the other hand, can give your customer a retroactive bill from Norwegian Customs, and the customer does not forget that.
Correct statement on origin
Your customer imports duty-free
0 % toll
Without origin documentation
The customer pays the Norwegian duty rate where one exists
Full toll
Note: a statement on origin may only be used when the goods actually meet the origin rules. We assess the origin and make sure the wording on the invoice is correct.
One certificate made the deliveries duty-free in Norway
We helped a Swedish exporter set up their origin handling with EUR.1 certificates. The customer in Norway now imports duty-free instead of paying the full duty rate on every delivery, and the exporter became a cheaper supplier without lowering the price by a single krona.
Saving for the customer
Several hundred thousand kronor
First export to Norway, or tired of trouble at the border?
Call +46 31 755 77 76 or email info@easytull.com. A reply within 10 minutes, or the declaration is on us.
Incoterms to Norway: DAP for most
The delivery term decides who is responsible for the import in Norway. The wrong choice here is one of the most common causes of problems in Norwegian customs. Need the freight as well? We arrange transport through our forwarding partners, so freight and clearance are booked in one.
DAP
Delivered At Place
You deliver to the named place, your customer handles the import and pays Norwegian VAT and any duty. The clearest division of responsibility.
EXW / FCA
Ex Works / Free Carrier
The buyer takes the transport and import chain. Suits a Norwegian customer who is an experienced importer with their own set-up.
DDP
Delivered Duty Paid, requires the right set-up
You take the full import responsibility in Norway, which normally requires Norwegian VAT registration. It can be done right, but do not do it without a set-up. Talk to us first.
Does your online store sell to Norwegian consumers?
Then separate rules apply. Norway has the VOEC scheme for foreign e-commerce sellers: you register, charge Norwegian VAT at checkout on goods under the value limit of NOK 3,000 per shipment, and your parcels flow through customs without the customer facing charges.
Without VOEC, the parcels are stopped for clearance with the carrier, the customer gets VAT and handling fees afterwards, and that is how Norwegian customers disappear after the first purchase.
We help online stores set up their Norway sales right from the start, from the VOEC question to shipping documents and returns.
With a VOEC set-up
Norwegian VAT is charged at checkout, the parcels go straight to the customer and the buying experience feels domestic.
Without a set-up
The customer gets VAT demands and fees from the carrier after the purchase. The returns and complaints follow immediately.
Machinery on assignment, trade fairs and repairs
Is the equipment going to Norway but coming home afterwards? Then it should not be exported as an ordinary sale. We file the temporary export from Sweden and arrange the temporary admission in Norway, so you avoid paying Norwegian VAT and duty on equipment that is only visiting.
This is everyday business for contracting and service companies with assignments in Norway, and an area where the wrong set-up gets expensive: without the right documents, the machine is treated as imported and the charges are calculated on the full machine value.
Construction machinery on assignment
Trade fairs and demo equipment
Repair and servicing
Five mistakes that stop Norway exports
Documents ready too late
With Digitoll, everything must be pre-notified before the border. A late invoice means a truck at a standstill.
The proof of exit is missing
The VAT exemption can be questioned by the Swedish Tax Agency, with retroactive Swedish VAT as the risk.
The wrong origin wording on the invoice
Your Norwegian customer risks retroactive billing, or pays duty unnecessarily when the wording is missing.
DDP without a Norwegian set-up
Import responsibility in Norway without VAT registration causes errors that cost far more than they save.
The export and the import do not match
Different values or commodity codes in the Swedish export and the Norwegian import trigger controls on both sides.
All five disappear with one partner for the whole chain
The same records, the same details, both declarations. That is the whole point.
How your Norway exports get started
The first shipment is the hard one, then it rolls. We set up the flow once, and after that every export is routine: send the invoice, we do the rest.
We set up your flow
Commodity codes, origin assessment, Incoterms and who does what in Norway. Once, and then it stands.
Send the invoice per shipment
We prepare the export declaration, pre-notify under Digitoll and do the Norwegian import where we have that assignment.
You get the proofs
The MRN, proof of exit and records are delivered ready for VAT reporting and bookkeeping.
Send the invoice, and a customs specialist replies within 10 minutes
Attach the commercial invoice and the transport booking and we come back with what is required, what it costs and when the declaration will be ready. Calling works just as well.
The same customs specialist every time
Ready within 2 hours
Fixed price, no lock-in
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Questions and answers about exporting to Norway
Can’t find the answer? We reply within 10 minutes.
Do I have to lodge an export declaration when exporting to Norway?
Yes, always. For customs purposes, Norway counts as a country outside the EU, so every shipment requires an export declaration to Swedish Customs before the goods leave Sweden. The declaration is also your basis for selling without Swedish VAT.
Are exports to Norway VAT-free?
Yes, the sale is normally VAT-free in Sweden, provided you can prove the goods left the EU. The proof is the proof of exit belonging to the export declaration. Without it, the Swedish Tax Agency can demand Swedish VAT retroactively. In Norway, the buyer pays Norwegian VAT at import.
What is Digitoll and does it affect me as an exporter?
Digitoll is Norwegian Customs’ digital system where shipments are pre-notified before they reach the border. The system goes live on 15 September 2026. As an exporter, you are affected in that invoices, commodity codes and consignee details must be ready before the transport rolls. We handle the pre-notification for you.
Does my Norwegian customer pay duty on Swedish goods?
Often not. Goods of EU origin can be imported duty-free in Norway, but only if you include correct origin documentation, for example a statement on origin on the invoice. Without it, Norwegian duty can be charged where a duty rate exists.
Can you do the Norwegian import declaration as well?
Yes. We handle both the Swedish export declaration and the Norwegian import declaration, so the details agree throughout the chain. That is the safest way to avoid stops and retroactive billing.
What applies to machinery coming home again after an assignment?
Use a temporary export set-up, for example temporary admission in Norway. Then you avoid Norwegian VAT and duty on equipment that is only there temporarily. The wrong set-up means the machine is treated as fully imported.
Ready to export to Norway?
Export declaration, Digitoll pre-notification and the Norwegian import in one flow. You sell, we handle the border.
Ready within 2 hours
Your own customs expert
Reply within 10 min, or the declaration is on us
Call +46 31 755 77 76 or email info@easytull.com
More customs guides: Importing from Norway · Exporting to the UK · Exporting to Switzerland · Duty calculator · HS code search · EORI number · Import declarations · Customs broker
