On March 26, 2026, the Council and the European Parliament agreed to overhaul the EU customs framework. The EU will soon have a modernized toolbox to address rising trade volumes, especially in e-commerce.
The reform puts in place innovative instruments to facilitate global trade, collect customs duties more efficiently, and tighten controls on non-compliant, dangerous, or unsafe goods.
The new EU customs system will allow more robust controls without being excessively burdensome for authorities and traders.
There will be:
The new decentralized EU agency for customs will coordinate governance of the EU customs union in certain areas. It will support Member States’ customs authorities by updating import and export data in the new EU customs data hub. This will help identify the riskiest cargo entering the EU and facilitate inspections.
The new authority will coordinate EU-level crisis management in the area of customs and will establish priority control areas and risk criteria.
The EU customs data hub will be a single online environment for collecting and analyzing customs data to ensure the smooth flow of goods in and out of the EU. It will also support the EU-wide risk management carried out by the new EU customs authority. Member States will have access to the same real-time data. They will also be able to pool information to respond to risks more quickly, consistently, and effectively. The data hub will become operational for e-commerce goods on July 1, 2028. A phased rollout will bring all movements of goods within its scope by March 1, 2034.
This reform will impose new obligations on e-commerce platforms. It will treat sellers and platforms that facilitate distance sales of goods from non-EU countries directly to EU customers as importers. They will have to provide customs authorities with all necessary data, pay or guarantee any charges, and ensure that the goods comply with EU law. These companies must be established in the EU or represented by an EU-based entity holding either authorized economic operator (AEO) status or trusted trader status. This will prevent the use of shell companies.
The reform will create a new category for the most transparent businesses: trust-and-check traders.
Under this category, companies that provide comprehensive information on the movement and compliance of goods, along with other strict criteria, will benefit from simplified procedures for temporary storage and transit.
The most reliable companies will be able to release their goods into circulation in the EU without any active customs intervention.
Other companies will continue to benefit from the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program, which is based on the World Customs Organization (WCO) SAFE Framework of Standards.
In November 2025, the Council agreed to eliminate the €150 customs duty relief threshold. This currently allows goods valued at less than €150 to enter the EU without incurring any customs duties.
Under the new rules, customs authorities will charge customs duties from the first euro of a consignment’s value upon its entry into the EU, thereby aligning the system with existing value-added tax (VAT) rules.
The new measure will start to apply once the EU customs data hub becomes operational.
From July 1, 2026, a €3 duty will apply to parcels valued at less than €150 entering the EU, mainly via e-commerce.
Estimates suggest that up to 65% of small parcels entering the EU are undervalued to avoid customs duties. Aside from its effect on the competitiveness of EU companies, the threshold has also raised environmental concerns. It indeed incentivizes non-EU companies to split shipments into individual parcels when sending goods into the Union.
Companies breaching EU rules will face a fine between 1-6% of the total value of imports in the previous year. Additionally, customs authorities may suspend, revoke, or annul their trusted trader or AEO status and flag them as high-risk operators.
Under the changes, businesses outside the EU will submit customs information to a single portal once it becomes operational. This will streamline their administrative formalities.
The reform will treat e-commerce platforms that facilitate sales of goods from non-EU countries directly to EU customers as importers. Platforms will therefore provide data, pay or guarantee any charges, and ensure that their goods comply with EU law.
Now is the time for non-EU businesses to start to prepare for these changes. It may well be in their interests to seek a reliable trader status.
Businesses exporting small parcels will need to consider the new handling fee, which will apply on July 1, 2026.
Authors: Anne MacGregor, Aleksandar Jovanović
