EU lawmakers have agreed a reform of the Union Customs Code that would make online platforms more responsible for parcels sent from non-EU countries to customers in the bloc.
The deal was reached on Thursday in talks between the European Parliament and the Council, and focuses on e-commerce, the safety of goods and the efficiency of customs procedures, the parliamentary press service announced.
A new handling fee would apply to each item entering the EU from a non-EU country when it is sent directly to an EU consumer, with the fee intended to cover the cost of processing large numbers of individual parcels.
The European Commission would set the level of the fee and reassess it every two years, according to the agreement.
Member states would start collecting the fee once the necessary IT system is operational and in any case no later than 1 November 2026.
Platforms treated as importers
Under the deal, sellers and platforms that facilitate distance sales of goods from non-EU countries directly to EU customers would be treated as importers, meaning they would have to provide customs authorities with the necessary data, pay or guarantee customs charges, and ensure goods comply with EU laws, the European Parliament said.
Those companies would have to be established in the EU or represented by an EU-based entity with authorised economic operator status — a customs accreditation for trusted traders — or “trusted trader” status.
Companies that repeatedly ignore EU rules could face fines of at least 1% and up to 6% of the total value of goods they imported into the EU in the previous 12 months, while customs authorities could suspend, revoke or annul trusted trader or authorised economic operator status and flag them as high-risk operators.
The reform would also create a simplified “trust and check” regime for import-export companies that cooperate transparently with customs, which would require vetting and access for customs authorities to companies’ electronic systems in exchange for less frequent checks and more flexibility on payments.
A new EU Customs Authority would be established in Lille, France, and would manage a customs data hub that is expected to be optional by 2031 and mandatory by 2034, replacing at least 111 software systems currently used by customs.
The provisional agreement must still be formally approved by the European Parliament in plenary and by the Council before it becomes law.
