EU approves customs reform to manage trade volumes and enhance compliance
The EU approved a comprehensive customs reform to streamline trade processes and improve duty collection, marking the most significant change since 1968.
EU customs reform is expected to enhance duty collection, addressing €4.6 billion in low-value item imports and handling an average of 12 million parcels daily.
The EU customs data hub is set to launch in late 2026, providing an online platform for streamlined customs information submissions.
Key developments
The EU has recently approved comprehensive customs reform aimed at managing increased trade volumes and enhancing regulatory standards. This initiative marks significant progress since the creation of the Customs Union in 1968.
Under the new framework, an EU customs data hub will be established, allowing businesses to submit customs information via a single online platform. This system is intended to streamline trade monitoring without interrupting operations.
Additionally, the reform includes simplified procedures for compliant businesses, while imposing financial penalties on e-commerce operators that do not meet EU standards. This approach aims to balance trade facilitation with regulatory compliance.
EU approves customs reform to handle rising trade and global uncertainties
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The EU approved a sweeping customs reform to handle growing trade volumes and streamline the application of its standards.
The agreement, which was reached on Thursday evening, introduces new tools to improve the collection of customs duties and increase controls on non-compliant or unsafe goods, without imposing excessive burdens for authorities and traders.
“Today’s agreement marks the greatest reform since the creation of the Customs Union in 1968”, Cypriot Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said in a statement following the adoption of the reform. “This modern toolbox will facilitate trade and ensure the proper collection of duties, in a simplified manner, and with the required legal certainty”, the minister added.
Customs management and trade have gained renewed urgency after trade volumes have sharply increased in the last years. Some €4.6 billion low-value items under €150 were imported to the EU in 2024, representing an average of 12 million parcels per day, according to European Commission data. That is a major increase from the €2.3 billion that entered in 2023 and €1.4 billion in 2022.
In addition, uncertainties over US tariffs, combined with new EU trade deals such as those with MERCOSUR and Australia, make this reform particularly timely.
EU customs data hub
The new rules foresee the creation of an EU customs data hub, which will be an online platform to facilitate the monitoring of trade flows without disrupting their smooth operation.
Businesses importing and exporting from the EU will only need to submit customs information on that single portal.
The reform will also introduce simplified procedures for “trust and check traders” for transparent businesses that will not be subjected to active customs interventions.
For e-commerce operators that fail to comply with EU standards, it will be applied a new system of financial penalties.