The new Union Customs Code
In May 2023 the European Commission proposed recasting the Union Customs Code. Following agreement between Parliament and Council in March 2026, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 was published in the Official Journal on 19 September 2026 and entered into force on 20 September 2026. The current Customs Code (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013) will be repealed with effect from 21 September 2027; existing implementing provisions continue to apply until they are replaced. Most of the provisions apply from 21 September 2027, some only in the 2030s. For businesses this marks the start of a long transitional period in which old and new law exist side by side.
The EU Customs Authority
A new agency is being created, the European Union Customs Authority (EUCA). Its seat is Lille, as agreed by Parliament and Council on 25 March 2026. The authority is to pool risk management in the EU, coordinate the national customs administrations and operate the new Customs Data Hub. Customs clearance itself remains with the Member States, in Germany with German Customs (Zoll). Its set-up began on entry into force, and it is to take up its work gradually from 2027.
The EU Customs Data Hub
At the core of the reform is the Customs Data Hub. Instead of submitting customs declarations shipment by shipment to national systems, businesses are in future to make their data available on a central platform, often before dispatch. Customs then accesses this data. A staggered start is planned:
- E-commerce: use for distance sales from 1 July 2028.
- Other businesses, voluntary: from 1 March 2031.
- All businesses, mandatory: from 1 March 2034.
Until then, ATLAS and the existing procedures remain in place. The changeover will fundamentally alter customs software, master data and cooperation with customs service providers. The specialist literature also cites a timetable with the years 2032 and 2038. It comes from the 2023 draft and is out of date.
E-commerce: the platform operator as importer
In e-commerce, responsibility will in future lie with whoever makes the distance sale to consumers or facilitates it via a platform. The Regulation calls this party the importer in the context of distance sales. It must provide the customs data, pay the duties and ensure that the goods comply with EU rules, for example on product safety. It must be established in the EU or represented there. Anyone not established in the EU can appoint an indirect representative with AEO status. These obligations apply from 21 September 2027.
Low-value consignments and handling fee
The customs duty exemption for consignments up to EUR 150 has already been abolished. Brought forward by a separate Council Regulation, a flat-rate customs duty of EUR 3 has been levied on distance sales since 1 July 2026, per item category in the consignment and not per unit. This transitional arrangement applies until 1 July 2028.
This must be distinguished from the Union handling fee, which is often confused with the flat-rate duty. It amounts to EUR 2 per item category, has no value threshold and is therefore also due on consignments above EUR 150. It is not refundable, which matters where return rates are high. The Commission set the amount on 21 September 2026, but the act has not yet been published in the Official Journal. It applies ten days after its publication, which is expected in early November 2026 at the earliest. From mid-2028 the fee will be lower if the goods come from a customs warehouse for distance sales.
Binding information
Alongside binding tariff information and binding origin information, there will in future be binding customs valuation information. For businesses with royalties, assists or intra-group transfer prices, this is probably the most important innovation, because until now the customs value could not be settled in a binding manner in advance. However, the holder can rely on it only as long as the circumstances relevant to the customs value correspond in every respect to those of the decision. More on tariff information in the article Tariff classification and binding tariff information, and on customs value adjustments in the article Customs value: royalties and assists.
Trust and Check traders
Alongside Authorised Economic Operators, a new status is introduced: the verified trusted trader (Trust and Check trader). Anyone who is reliable and makes data available to customs in near real time via an electronic system receives further facilitations, up to the release of goods without active intervention by customs and periodic payment of duties. Applications are possible from 21 September 2027, and the facilitations take effect from 1 July 2028. One hurdle is easily overlooked: importers in the context of distance sales must have used the IOSS scheme for at least two years. AEO status remains in place and is reviewed regularly, as is the new status.
Penalties
Until now, Member States have dealt with customs infringements in very different ways. The reform introduces a common framework. For systematic infringements in e-commerce it provides for graduated fines, initially 1 to 4 per cent and, for repetition within six months, 3 to 6 per cent of the value of the goods imported in the previous year. In addition, authorisations can be revoked and the business classified as high-risk. However, an infringement is only systematic if a significant number of controls within one month show infringements on a representative scale. Individual data errors do not trigger the fines.
How to prepare
- Determine whether you are affected: If you sell to consumers in the EU from third countries or operate a platform, the new obligations start as early as 2027. For everyone else, the major changeover comes with the data platform.
- Check your IOSS track record: For Trust and Check, distance sellers need two years of IOSS use. This is the only requirement that cannot be made up later.
- Put your data in order: The platform requires clean master data, that is, commodity codes, origin and customs value components. A look at tariff classification is helpful.
- Document compliance: Trust and Check requires that compliance with the rules is evidenced continuously and with system support. An internal control system is the foundation.
- Keep an eye on authorisations: At the end of the transitional period, existing authorisations lose their validity, because there will then no longer be any customs declarations.
- Involve service providers and follow developments: Clarify with freight forwarders and software providers who will supply which data in future. Many details are still to be governed by Commission acts, and dates may shift.
Which steps come first for your business depends on your flows of goods. In individual cases a brief review with customs advice is worthwhile.