The EX-1 declaration. The sheet you receive isn't the proof you are looking for.
The freight forwarder sends an email with a PDF and a long code, and the shipment shows as departed. That PDF proves the goods were released, which is one step before the moment you need.
The exporter lodges it, not the buyer. At the customs office responsible for the place where you are established, or where the goods are packed and loaded. In practice a freight forwarder transmits it on your behalf, and the responsibility stays yours.
The DAE accompanies the goods, the exit message closes the file. The Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency writes that the «exit completed» message constitutes proof that the goods have left the customs territory of the Union.
The goods must leave within 90 days of the date of release. If they leave but the system doesn't record the exit, there is an enquiry procedure to start. Nobody warns you that it is needed.
This piece is part of the guide to export operations for the small food producer and covers the customs step, that is, what happens after the shipping documents are ready.
The template, to download
It isn't the form, which the freight forwarder transmits electronically and which changes with the channel. It is the three-part list of what the declaration contains: the twelve details you provide, the three that come back to you (MRN, DAE, date of release), and the line nobody watches on your behalf, the exit completed message.
| File | What it contains | Link |
|---|---|---|
| The EX-1 fieldsPDF, one page | Nineteen fields in three sections: what you give, what you receive, what you have to watch yourself. The PDF is in Italian. |
The files are free. There is no form in front of them, we don't ask for an address and we receive no notification when someone downloads them. The description of the goods, the customs code, the weights and the value must be the same as on the invoice and packing list: it is the first thing the PDF reminds you of, because it is the first cause of inspection.
What it is really called
The Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency calls it the export declaration. EX-1 is the name that circulates among freight forwarders and buyers, and it means the same thing: the act by which goods are placed under the export procedure.
The Agency defines the procedure in one line: «Placing goods under the export procedure is mandatory where they are to leave the customs territory of the Community». Mandatory, then, and not a formality you choose to carry out.
There is no non-EU shipment without a customs declaration. There are shipments where someone else made it on your behalf.
Who lodges it, and at which office
The exporter lodges it. The Agency states that the exporter must present the goods and the related declaration to the customs office of export, which is the one responsible for the place where the exporter is established, or where the goods are packed or loaded.
Almost no small producer transmits it themselves. A freight forwarder or customs representative fills it in, on behalf of the company, and it is a sensible division of labour. The point to hold on to is another: responsibility for what is declared stays with the exporter, even when someone else does the typing.
MRN and DAE, two things that travel together
The MRN is a number, the DAE is a sheet, and they are constantly confused. When the declaration is accepted, the office of export assigns the Movement Reference Number and, at release, hands over the export accompanying document, which carries that number and travels with the goods.
The difference matters because it changes what is worth filing. The PDF ends up in a folder and nobody reopens it. The MRN is the key for checking the status of the movement, and on the Agency's website there is a tracking service that, when you enter that number, returns the status of the export movement.
The proof of exit comes later, and it comes in silence
This is the part that costs. The sequence has two offices and two distinct moments: the office of export accepts the declaration, carries out the risk analysis and releases the goods; the office of exit checks that the goods match what was declared, supervises the physical exit and sends back the results.
Only at the end of that chain does the circle close. The Agency writes it without leeway: «The ‘exit completed’ message constitutes proof that the goods have left the customs territory of the Union».
The document you hold at release is therefore a snapshot from halfway along. Something can happen between release and exit completed, and when it does no email arrives. The tax treatment of the transaction should be checked with your accountant on the basis of the proof actually obtained, not on the basis of the PDF received on the day of departure.
The ninety days
Ninety days from release. The Agency, referring to Article 335 of the implementing regulation, states that goods released for export must leave the customs territory of the Union within that period.
From there two paths open, and you have to take them because nobody takes them for you. If the goods have left but the system hasn't recorded the message, the enquiry procedure is started at the office of export. If the goods haven't left, the non-exit must be reported so that the declaration can be invalidated.
Who does what, and what is left to you
| Step | Who does it | What is left to you |
|---|---|---|
| The declarationthe EX-1 | The exporter, electronically, almost always through a freight forwarder acting on their behalf. |
Responsibility for what is written in it, including the description of the goods and the value. |
| Acceptance and releasethe MRN is born | The office of export: accepts, analyses the risk, assigns the MRN and hands over the DAE. |
The MRN number. It is the key to checking everything else, and it should be kept where you can find it. |
| Physical exitat the border | The office of exit: checks the match, supervises the exit and sends back the results. |
Nothing to do, but a date to keep an eye on: the ninety days started running earlier. |
| Exit completedthe proof | The customs system, when the exit results come back to the office of export. |
The proof of export. If it doesn't arrive, it is up to you to notice and start the enquiry. |
The right-hand column is the reason this page exists. Three rows out of four ask nothing of you and only one asks for attention, and it is the last one, which has no deadline written anywhere and produces no message when it goes wrong.
When shipments become many
With three shipments a year this can be followed from memory. With thirty, memory stops being a method: the MRNs sit in thirty different emails, and checking which ones show as exited means reopening them one by one, so nobody does it until a problem turns up.
It is the same pattern as the certificate of origin and the health certificates: a check line nobody assigned to anybody. When these lines become dozens, the place to see them together stops being a spreadsheet and becomes a deadline tracker that warns you in advance, with the constraint written in Ethics: the system flags, and a person does the check.
This page reports what the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency publishes on its own pages, opened and read on 13 September 2026. It doesn't publish the step-by-step procedure for transmitting a declaration, because it changes with the electronic channel used and with the representative who lodges it.
The VAT treatment of the transaction isn't covered here. It depends on the proof actually obtained and should be discussed with your own accountant.
Questions and answers
What is the EX-1 declaration?
It is the customs declaration by which goods are placed under the export procedure and can leave the customs territory of the European Union. The Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency writes that placing goods under the export procedure is mandatory for goods that must leave that territory.
On the Agency's pages the document is called an export declaration. EX-1 is the name that circulates among freight forwarders and buyers, and it means the same thing. It is lodged electronically at the customs office of export.
Who lodges the declaration, the seller or the buyer?
The exporter, so as a rule the seller established in the European Union. The Agency states that the exporter must present the goods and the declaration to the office responsible for the place where they are established, or where the goods are packed or loaded.
In practice almost no small producer transmits it themselves: a freight forwarder or customs representative fills it in on behalf of the company. Responsibility for what is declared, however, stays with the exporter, even when someone else does the typing.
What proves that the goods have left the European Union?
The exit completed message, not the document that accompanied the goods. The Customs Agency puts it this way: «The ‘exit completed’ message constitutes proof that the goods have left the customs territory of the Union».
The DAE, handed over at release, shows that the declaration was accepted and the goods released, which is an earlier moment. Between the two steps there may be a problem nobody flags, and the tax treatment should be checked with your accountant on the basis of the proof actually obtained.
How much time do the goods have to leave after release?
Ninety days. The Agency, referring to Article 335 of the implementing regulation, states that goods released for export must leave the customs territory of the Union within 90 days of the date of release.
If the goods have left but the system hasn't recorded the exit message, the operator can start the enquiry procedure at the customs office of export. If instead the goods haven't left, the non-exit must be reported to the office so that the declaration can be invalidated.
What is the difference between MRN and DAE?
The MRN is a number, the DAE is a sheet. The Movement Reference Number is assigned by the office of export when the declaration is accepted and serves to follow the movement; the export accompanying document is the sheet that travels with the goods and carries that number.
On the Agency's website there is a tracking service that, when you enter the MRN, returns the status of the export movement. Keeping the MRN somewhere findable matters more than filing the PDF, because it is with that number that you check whether the exit shows as completed.
Notes on sources
- Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency, export, the customs procedures, for the definition of the procedure, the competent office, the roles of the office of export and the office of exit, the MRN, the DAE, the ninety-day period with the reference to Article 335 of the implementing regulation, and the sentence on the exit completed message. The two quoted sentences are our translation of the Italian text.
- Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency, export declarations, for the B1 message replacing the ET/ET1 in the move to the new export system. That page gives no date of application, so none is published here.
- Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency, tracking export or transit movements, for the existence of the service for checking the status of a movement by MRN.
- The Agency's pages were opened and read on 13 September 2026. This page doesn't report the step-by-step electronic procedure, because it depends on the channel used and on the representative who lodges the declaration.
A shipment is closed when the system says it has left, not when the lorry departs.
With three shipments a year the check can be kept in your head. With thirty, the MRNs sit in thirty emails and nobody reopens them until there is a problem. With Itria we start from the outside to build custom digital systems for exporters. For you that translates into more requests, fewer losses and less manual work. Write us a line about what weighs on you. We take the first step: what a buyer sees when they look you up, and what we found there. Even if we don't end up working together.