COVID-19 certificates issued outside the EU to be accepted as COVID-19 passports in Finland as of 23 December

As of 23 December, COVID-19 certificates issued outside the EU will be accepted as COVID-19 passports in Finland. Operators in different sectors may check certificates issued outside the EU manually, without the COVID certificate reader application.

Previously, Finland has only accepted as COVID-19 passports the EU COVID certificates or certificates from countries with which the EU has concluded an interoperability agreement. In addition, the COVID certificates (COVID passports) could earlier be checked manually only in case of a technical fault with the reader application.

However, many third-country travellers arriving in Finland carry a COVID-19 certificate issued by a non-EU country that is not interoperable with the digital COVID-19 certificate issued by the EU.

A new section 58m concerning this was approved on 22 December 2021 and it can be applied in practice as of 23 December 2021. The section is a temporary amendment to the Communicable Diseases Act. According to subsection 2 of the section, the obligation to read COVID certificates with an electronic reader application does not apply to certificates issued outside the EU.

In other respects, the Acts (the Act on Temporarily Amending the Communicable Diseases Act and the Act on Temporarily Amending the Act on Transport Services) will enter into force on 1 January 2022.

Inquiries

Liisa Katajamäki, Senior Ministerial Adviser, [email protected]
Paula Tiittala, Senior Medical Officer, [email protected]