On Thursday the Council and Parliament of the European Union reached an agreement on the revision of the EU customs framework which provides for the introduction of innovative tools to facilitate trade, collect customs duties more efficiently and strengthen controls on non-compliant, dangerous or unsafe goods. In particular, the creation of a single EU customs data hub was agreed: a central platform for importers and exporters to interact with customs in the EU, strengthening data integrity, traceability and customs controls. It has also been decided to introduce more effective customs simplifications for the most reliable operators, allowing them to save time and money; to establish a new EU-wide tariff for the items contained in the small packages in entry into the EU; to create a new decentralized agency for customs - the EU Customs Authority based in Lille(of 26 March 2026) - which will supervise the EU's customs data hub and will support the risk management activity of national customs authorities.

The EU Customs Data Hub, which will be managed by the new EU Customs Authority (EUCA), will be the only online environment designed to collect and analyze customs data. In order to fulfil its customs obligations, companies importing and exporting from the EU will only have to submit customs information once to this single portal, instead of up to 27 different customs authorities and at least 111 software systems currently used by customs. According to the agreement, the data hub will become operational for e-commerce goods on July 1, 2028. A gradual implementation foresees its optional use by 2031 and the inclusion of all movement of goods within its scope by 1 March 2034 when its use becomes mandatory by 2034.

With regard to the establishment of the "Trust and check traders", which represents an evolution as to the reliability of the current category of authorized economic operators (AEO), the updating of the legislation previews that the companies that will fall into this new category will have to provide complete information on the movement and compliance of the goods, together with other stringent criteria, and will be eligible for more streamlined customs obligations, as simplified procedures for temporary storage and transit. Moreover, the most reliable companies will be able to enter their goods in the EU without any customs procedure. The other companies may continue to benefit from the simplifications already provided for by reliable operators in the current system of authorized economic operators.

The updating of the legislation also provides that, in order to contribute to covering the increasing costs deriving from the monitoring of the increasing number of small packages entering the EU through e-commerce, a specific management fee will be set up which will be levied by the customs authorities on the small shipments generated by distance sales. The amount of the fee will be established by the delegated act of the European Commission by next November, before it begins to be applied by the EU Member States, and can be reassessed every two years. Last December the Member States had already agreed to eliminate the exemption threshold from customs duties, which currently allows entry into the EU of goods of less than 150 euros without duties, and to apply a temporary customs duty of three euros on the articles contained in these small packages entering the EU, mainly through e-commerce, starting from next July.

The new rules also clarify that the platforms and those who sell distance in the EU, for example through e-commerce, are considered importers of goods and responsible for ensuring that all customs formalities and payments are executed correctly. According to the new rules, sellers and platforms that facilitate the sale of goods from non-EU countries directly to EU customers will be considered importers and this will force them to provide the customs authorities with all the necessary data, to pay or guarantee any charges and to ensure that the goods comply with EU laws. These companies must be based in the EU or represented by an EU-based entity that possesses AEO status or trusted traders. This aims to prevent the use of convenient companies. In addition, to encourage shipments of large quantities of goods, which are easier to control for customs authorities, sellers and platforms in non-EU countries are encouraged to manage warehouses in the EU: Therefore, their intra-EU shipments will benefit from a lower shipping fee, provided that the goods are imported into collective packaging and in sufficient quantities to make customs checks more efficient.

The legislation will also include a new system of pecuniary sanctions for e-commerce operators who do not systematically comply with their customs obligations, which may be sanctioned with a fine of at least 1%, and up to 6%, of the total value of the goods imported in the EU in the previous 12 months. Moreover, the customs authorities may suspend, revoke or cancel the status of reliable operator or AEO and report them as high-risk operators.

Next, the EU Council and Parliament will finalize the technical elements of the package before the final adoption and its full entry into force 12 months after the publication in the "Official Journal" of the European Union.

The rapporteur of the legislative proposal to update European customs rules, Dirk Gotink, stressed that 'the Parliament and the Council have reached a historic agreement on the most significant reform of European customs legislation since 1968. The new standards - it has evidenced - face the explosive growth of e-commerce: last year, 5.8 billion low-value packages entered the EU. The new law is based on four fundamental pillars: online traders become responsible for the goods they send to consumers; a new tax is planned to cover the greater management costs for our customs; a central EU customs authority and an EU data hub to provide an integrated and real-time overview of freight flows. The platforms that structurally do not respect our norms will be sanctioned. Systematic and repeated non-compliance will result in stricter penalties, up to 6% of annual imports, and the suspension of the online e-commerce platform. The objective: an internal market that leaves no more unpunished platforms such as Temu, SHEIN and AliExpress, which put on the European market huge amounts of goods not conforming and compete unfairly with our companies. This will make - concluded Gotink - the single market is significantly safer and fairer for consumers and enterprises".