As an update to our previous post on the 900 or so sanctions investigations started by Finnish Customs since the start of 2022, we can provide a more detailed breakdown of those figures.
The blog is happy to acknowledge the information and assistance provided by Finnish Customs.
To explain the figures below, under Finnish law sanctions offences are divided into three categories:
- Petty regulation offences – punishable only by fines;
- Regulation offences – punishable by fine or imprisonment for a maximum of 2 years; and
- Aggravated regulation offences – punishable by imprisonment of at least 4 months and not more than 4 years.
Against that background, Finnish Customs has provided a break down over time of when it commenced its many investigations and the category of offending that was being investigated.
| Year | Petty Regulation Offence | Regulation Offence | Aggravated Regulation Offence | Total |
| 2022 | 104 | 158 | 44 | 306 |
| 2023 | 354 | 86 | 64 | 504 |
| 2024 | 5 | 59 | 35 | 99 |
| Total | 463 | 303 | 143 | 909 |
The drop off in investigations relating to petty regulation offences in 2024 is to be attributed to the closure of all crossings along the land border with Russia, as most of the examples in that category had been attempts to export prohibited goods by individuals in cars and other vehicles.
Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.
