Significant changes to the EU’s customs code for e-commerce businesses

Who this will interest: e-commerce business based outside the EU selling to EU customers;

Key point(s): The amendments will bring a new customs fee, new customs procedures, new penalties and a new customs software and agency;

Essentia’s take: Significant challenges await cross-border retailers due to the requirement for them to be importer of record. We will be keeping this under close watch and reporting in more depth once the implementation date is decided.

Action points: E-commerce businesses based outside of the EU should prepare for the upcoming changes and assess the commercial viability of their current VAT and customs set up.

In detail

As mentioned in one of our previous updates, the European Council and the Parliament agreed in March 2026 to overhaul the EU customs framework. The European Parliament has now approved the amendments to the customs code which marks the start of a major reform of the system.

Of interest to us are the changes impacting the e-commerce sector:

• Importer of record – Sellers and platforms that facilitate the distance sales of goods from non-EU countries directly to EU customers will be treated as importers. In other words it is the intention of the EU to remove the possibility to make the customer the importer of record. New definitions will be introduced to deal with the concept of “importer for distance sales”. It remains to be seen if the new customs definition will be followed by amendments to the VAT legislation given that VAT recovery on imports is governed by strict rules which are not aligned at the moment with these new customs rules;

• A new EU-wide handling fee for low value parcels (less than 150 euros in value) will be applied where the parcels are imported into the EU from outside the Union. The level of the fee proposed by the European Commission is 2 euros per item and is expected to go live (1 November 2026). The handling fee will be different to the 3 euros duty the EU already applies (starting 1 July 2026). Some countries, such as France or Romania already operate a handling fee which we expect will be phased out.

• New fines – A new system of financial penalties for e-commerce operators that systematically fail to comply with their customs obligations will be introduced. Companies that repeatedly ignore EU rules may be punished with fines between 1% and 6% of the total value of goods imported into the EU (in the previous 12 months).
• Preferential customs treatment – Companies that import and export goods in the EU may benefit from a simplified “trust and check” regime if they agree to cooperate transparently with customs authorities. The intention is to have companies under this scheme provide comprehensive information on the movement and compliance of goods, but in return enjoy more streamlined customs obligations, such as simplified procedures for temporary storage and transit. The most reliable companies will be able to release their goods into circulation in the EU with minimal active customs intervention.

• New customs agency – A new EU customs authority (EUCA) will be set upin Lille, France. The authority will be responsible for coordinating customs cooperation, ensure risk management and manage an integrated data hub. EUCA is expected to become fully operational immediately.
• An EU customs data hub will be created – A new pan-European customs IT system will be created. The system will be called the EU Data Hub and will be managed by the newly established EU customs authority (EUCA). The system will become operational by 2031 and will remain optional until 2034, after which it will be mandatory. The aim of the data hub is to provide customs authorities in the EU one single software system to replace the different systems used throughout the EU by customs authorities. Using the same software will be beneficial for companies trading in the EU as they will only have to integrate their own software with one system. The new system will also offer the newly created EUCA a better view of transactions taking place in the EU.