EU ministers have given final approval to an overhaul of the bloc’s customs framework, including new rules making non-EU online platforms responsible for customs formalities and duty payments on goods sold into the EU.
Under the updated Union Customs Code, non-EU e-commerce platforms will be treated as the importer when selling to EU customers, shifting responsibility away from the final consumer, the Council of the EU announced on Thursday.
The legislation also introduces a new penalties system for e-commerce operators that fail to meet customs obligations, including ensuring EU standards are met and the right duty is paid.
The most serious cases may lead to fines of up to 6% of a company’s annual import value of goods from the previous year, the removal of certain customs privileges and restrictions on access to online platforms.
An EU-wide handling fee on small parcels will be introduced by 1 November 2026, with the European Commission setting the level of the fee before member states apply it.
The fee is separate from an earlier Council decision to remove the customs duty exemption for imports valued under €150.
New EU customs authority and data hub
The reforms establish a new decentralised EU customs agency to coordinate governance of the customs union, including analysing import and export data held in a new “EU customs data hub” — a single platform for traders to interact with customs across the EU, according to the Council.
The new EU customs authority will be located in Lille, France, and is due to begin operating in 2027.
It will also help set priority control areas and risk criteria, and coordinate EU-level customs crisis management.
A new category of “trust and check traders” will be created for businesses that provide detailed information about the movement and compliance of their goods and meet other criteria.
The most reliable firms in the scheme will be able to release goods into circulation in the EU without active customs intervention.
The European Parliament is expected to approve the final text later in September before it is signed and published in the EU’s official journal.
Use of the new data hub will become mandatory for e-commerce businesses on 1 July 2028 and for all traders from 1 March 2034.
The EU customs union manages trade worth more than €4.3 trillion — about 14% of global trade — and in 2025 customs offices handled around 6 billion e-commerce parcels, with more than 90% of those parcels arriving from China.
