The new EU Customs Code

What business needs to know — a practical guide to the most ambitious EU customs reform since 1968

In late March 2026, the European Council and Parliament reached political agreement on a new Union Customs Code (UCC) — the most ambitious reform of EU customs since the Customs Union was established in 1968. The reform replaces a fragmented, paper-and-declaration-based system with a fully digital, data-driven one, centred on a single EU Customs Data Hub and a new EU Customs Authority based in Lille.

This guide pulls together what is changing, when, and what it means in practice for any company that imports, exports, or moves goods across EU borders. It is based on the agreed legislative text and on public information from the Commission, Council and Parliament.

Latest procedural update: the IMCO Committee of the European Parliament endorsed the provisional agreement on 16 April 2026 (38 in favour, 2 against, 3 abstentions). A plenary vote is expected by September 2026, with publication in the Official Journal targeted for October–November 2026. The Regulation will then enter into force approximately 12 months after publication.

Changes at a glance

Why this matters for business

Customs is no longer only about collecting duties. It increasingly polices product compliance — safety, sustainability, sanctions, forced labour, deforestation, CBAM, digital product passports. At the same time, e-commerce volumes exploded from a few hundred million items a few years ago to 4.6 billion items in 2024 and around 5.8 billion in 2025 (DG TAXUD figures), making the current model unsustainable.

This reform is the EU's response. Two consequences for any company that imports, exports, or moves goods across EU borders:

• Your customs data will be used far more intensively — for risk analysis, for non-customs regulatory compliance, and across the whole supply chain, not just at the border.

• How you organise customs operations will change. IT systems, contracts with carriers/brokers, internal data governance, and the choice of trusted-trader status all need to be revisited.

Timeline — what to put in the diary

The four pillars of the reform

E-commerce: the urgent file

E-commerce gets its own regime and it starts first. Key changes:

• €150 de minimis abolished. A transitional €3 flat customs duty applies from 1 July 2026 (Council decision of 12 Dec 2025). The €150 duty-free threshold is fully abolished under the UCC reform when the e-commerce Data Hub goes live on 1 July 2028. Normal duties apply thereafter.

• Customs handling fee. A per-parcel fee is introduced (amount set by November 2026 delegated act).

• Platforms become importers. Marketplaces that sell to EU consumers become responsible for customs compliance of the goods they sell — including data, duty and VAT.

• No simplified treatment for the platforms themselves. The co-legislators explicitly refused to grant extra facilitation to e-commerce flows.

• Trust & Check available for e-commerce operators. Major e-commerce players can apply from July 2028 and benefit from a reduced handling fee.

Strategic implication: the reform is expected to level the playing field between traditional retail and cross-border e-commerce platforms. Some Chinese platforms have already anticipated — Shein alone has 740,000 m² of warehousing in Poland. Expect internal EU competition for e-commerce distribution hubs (Poland, Netherlands, Belgium).

Operational impact — what changes day-to-day

Data: from declarations to continuous data sharing

Today, you file a set of declarations (entry, import, transit, export). Tomorrow, you push data about the consignment into a shared hub and customs "consume" the events in the goods' life cycle. The same data should only be submitted once.

• Data quality becomes critical — poor data means controls and delays. The Commission is asking companies to start improving data quality now, in existing systems.

• 'Submit once' only works if companies adopt unique identifiers that track a consignment across its whole journey. This is one of the biggest practical challenges.

• Carriers will become 'gatekeepers': they must check the importer has filed the data before loading. Expect new contractual and operational arrangements with carriers and brokers.

IT and systems

• Companies will need to interface with the EU Data Hub (directly or via brokers/software). Member State national systems will coexist until 2034 but progressively disappear.

• Short timelines are a real risk. Industry has flagged that testing phases must be foreseen — ICS2 has had documented service interruptions and readiness concerns. A dedicated test environment is expected.

• Data sovereignty is a priority: the Commission is assessing sovereign EU cloud vendors for hosting.

Customs representatives / brokers

• Role shifts from filing declarations to data management and compliance advisory.

• An EU-established customs representative is required when the importer is non-EU.

• Brokers with strong data capability can consolidate operations — no need for a legal presence in each Member State.

VAT, excise and other legislation

• Centralised clearance for imports is introduced — but NOT for VAT. Industry has flagged this as a missed opportunity; misalignment with VAT remains a source of fragmentation.

• Penalties are only partially harmonised (minimum common core of infringements and non-criminal sanctions); Member State national sanctions are retained.

Trust & Check vs. AEO — what to choose

Good news: AEO is retained. It was a real concern that AEO would disappear; business pushed back and won.

But Trust & Check is the new top tier:

• Entry requirements: Full AEO-equivalent plus real-time access to your customs-relevant data by authorities. Practically a major IT and governance project.

• Benefits: Self-assessment (file periodically, not per transaction), self-release (release goods without prior customs intervention), reduced handling fee in e-commerce, priority treatment.

• Open question: Will the benefits justify the investment? Industry worries the balance between simplification and controls still isn't right — and that SMEs will struggle to qualify.

• SME angle: Brokers are expected to step in, providing Trust & Check status to their SME clients as a service.

Risks for business

• Short and unclear timelines. Delegated and implementing acts are still in drafting; businesses are being asked to build IT for rules that aren't final.

• Data explosion. Despite the 'submit once' promise, each new EU regulation adds data requirements. Without active pushback, the Data Hub could become another reporting burden on top of CBAM, CSRD, deforestation etc.

• Integration with national systems. During the 2026–2034 transition, companies will deal with the Data Hub AND national systems in parallel. Risk of double-filing if not well designed.

• Uneven enforcement. The final text introduces a minimum common core of sanctions, but Member States can still add national sanctions. Interpretation differences will persist.

• EU competition. More uniform rules could accelerate a shift of distribution flows towards lower-cost Member States.

• System resilience. ICS2 has had documented service interruptions at today's volumes. With ~18 million daily e-commerce declarations projected, business continuity is a real concern.

Opportunities for business

• Single EU interface. A real chance to cut IT and compliance cost if delivered well — one connection instead of 27.

• Self-assessment. For compliant traders, the end of transaction-by-transaction filing can free significant resources.

• Predictability through data. Real-time visibility of consignment status, earlier notification of controls — fewer delays at the border.

• Level playing field on e-commerce. Traditional retailers and EU manufacturers benefit from tighter controls on cross-border platforms.

• Sustainability link. The Data Hub can connect to the Digital Product Passport, opening room for differentiated tariffs (e.g., refurbished vs new) and simpler compliance for green products.

• Shape the rules. The Commission is actively calling for business input on delegated acts, data elements and the Data Hub design. Early movers influence the detail.

What business should do in the next 12 months

• Map exposure: which flows, which Member States, which product categories are most affected (especially e-commerce, low-value consignments, non-EU sellers).

• Start cleaning customs data quality in existing systems — the Commission has explicitly asked for this, and it will ease the Data Hub transition.

• Assess Trust & Check readiness vs. AEO: what would real-time data access require on your side? Run a gap analysis.

• Review contracts with carriers, customs representatives and platforms in light of the new 'gatekeeper' and importer-responsibility concepts.

• Engage: through industry chambers, federations, national trade facilitation committees, or directly with your national customs authority. The delegated acts for e-commerce will be published in draft in the coming weeks.

• Budget: plan IT investment for 2026–2028 covering data model changes, interfaces with the Data Hub, and potentially a Trust & Check programme.

Bottom line

The reform is ambitious and broadly supported: Council and Parliament reached political agreement on 26 March 2026 on what both institutions are calling the most significant customs reform in decades. But success depends on the detail — delegated acts, Data Hub design, EUCA governance. For business, now is the moment to build internal awareness, engage with the Commission on the secondary rules, and start the IT/data homework. 1 July 2028 is closer than it looks.

Sources & further reading

• European Commission DG TAXUD — EU Customs Reform

• European Commission press release IP/26/735 on the political agreement (26 March 2026)

• Council of the EU press release — "EU customs: Council and Parliament agree on landmark reform" (26 March 2026)

• Council press release on interim €3 duty on small parcels from 1 July 2026 (12 December 2025)

• Council press release on selection of Lille to host the EU Customs Authority (25 March 2026)

• DG TAXUD — "Goods bought online" statistics (for e-commerce volumes)