EU Parliament approves tougher customs rules for e-commerce imports
Insights
- MEPs have approved a reform of the EU Customs Code, adding handling fees for direct-to-consumer parcels from non-EU web shops.
- Platforms and sellers will be treated as importers, raising compliance duties for cross-border retail supply chains.
- A new EU Data Hub and customs authority will reshape declarations, risk checks and trader status over the coming years.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have approved a major reform of the European Union (EU) Customs Code, introducing tougher rules for e-commerce imports and creating a new customs authority. The changes will affect non-EU web shops, platforms, import-export companies and retail supply chains shipping goods directly to EU consumers.
Sellers and platforms facilitating distance sales of goods from non-EU countries to EU customers will be treated as importers. They will have to provide customs authorities with required data, pay or guarantee charges and ensure goods shipped to Europe comply with EU laws. To ensure accountability, such companies must be established in the EU or represented by an EU-based entity with authorised economic operator (AEO) or trusted trader status, a measure intended to prevent shell companies from being used to bypass the rules.
The new rules establish a handling fee for each item bought from non-EU web shops and sent directly to EU consumers. The fee will be paid by the same entity responsible for other customs charges on the parcel, which the European Parliament said is intended to avoid shifting the cost to consumers.
The European Commission will determine the fee amount and revise it every two years to keep it proportional to actual costs, while member states must start collecting it at the latest from November 1, 2026.
According to the Parliament, non-EU sellers and platforms are encouraged to use warehouses in the EU to promote bulk shipments that customs authorities can check more efficiently. Intra-EU client shipments will qualify for a lower handling fee when goods are imported in collective packaging and in quantities large enough to make customs checks more efficient.
Companies that repeatedly ignore EU rules may face fines of at least 1 per cent and up to 6 per cent of the total value of goods imported into the EU in the previous 12 months. Customs authorities may also suspend, revoke or annul trusted trader or AEO status and flag such companies as high-risk operators.
Import-export companies that follow the rules and co-operate transparently with customs authorities may benefit from a simplified “trust and check” regime. Initially, this will require vetting and access for customs authorities to the companies’ electronic systems. In return, shipments will be checked less often and companies will receive more flexibility on the payment of duties and fees. The current AEO qualification will remain in place to keep customs status accessible to smaller economic operators.
The reform will also create a pan-European customs IT system, the EU Data Hub, to be managed by the newly established EU customs authority (EUCA).
The Parliament said the hub will be available for optional use by 2031 and mandatory by 2034, replacing at least 111 software systems currently used by customs authorities in Europe. For companies, it is intended to make goods declarations and communication with customs authorities easier and faster, while improving risk analysis and cross-border co-operation for authorities.
The EUCA will be based in Lille, France, and is expected to become fully operational immediately, the Parliament announced. Its main responsibilities will be to co-ordinate future customs co-operation, ensure risk management and manage the EU Data Hub.
The Council has already given the reform its final formal agreement, making Parliament’s approval the final procedural step. The reform was due to be officially signed into law and member states will have to apply the new rules in full after 12 months.
The European Commission initiated the Customs Code reform in May 2023 in response to the growing influx of individual parcels from non-EU web shops, which the Parliament said overwhelms EU customs authorities and creates an entry route for unsafe products.
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