EC Proposes Customs Reform Package, Including EU Single Window, Customs Agency

The European Commission this week proposed to reform its customs system, including by creating a single interface called the EU Customs Data Hub that will allow for the submission of all customs information on imports. Under the plan, the EU also would create an EU Customs Authority, which it said would boost cooperation between customs surveillance and law enforcement authorities at the EU and member state level, and would eliminate the de minimis threshold for imports under $162.

The commission proposed the major overhaul to the EU's customs infrastructure because of massive surges in trade, particularly in e-commerce, a huge uptick in the number of EU standards being enforced and a "need to continuously react to geopolitical changes and priorities, and in support of crisis management and the enforcement of EU sanctions," it said. The current lack of a central EU customs database or supply chain supervision hampers many of the bloc's goals, creating the need for the reform, the commission said.

One of the largest changes is the EU Customs Data Hub, which the commission is touting as a "new partnership with business" that would "compile the data provided by business and -- via machine learning, artificial intelligence and human intervention -- provide authorities with a 360-degree overview of supply chains and the movement of goods." The hub, which isn't expected to be launched for several years, would replace existing customs infrastructure and serve as the only portal for traders when submitting customs information.

The commission said it plans to establish the EU Customs Authority to help member states "focus their control efforts where it matters most, and to better enforce compliance with EU standards." The authority would begin operation on Jan. 1, 2028, and "gradually expand its scope in sync with the roll-out of the EU Customs Data Hub."

As part of the hub, trusted traders will be able to use the Trust & Check feature, which would allow them to release their merchandise into the EU "without any active customs intervention at all." The commission said this system strengthens the existing Authorized Economic Operator program. The data hub would open for e-commerce consignments in 2028, followed by other importers in 2032 on a voluntary basis. The EU would carry out a review in 2035 to assess whether the Trust & Check system, which also lets traders clear all of their imports with customs authorities in the relevant member state, can be applied to all traders when the hub becomes mandatory in 2038.

The proposal would also do away with the current exemption from customs duties for goods valued below 150 euros, imposing a duty on every single good brought and sold online into the EU. "The removal of this threshold will help to cut down on fraud from the undervaluation of goods entering the EU," the commission said. "It will also discourage sellers from splitting larger consignments into smaller packages to benefit from the exemption." The reform's new classification system will make it easier to identify goods when calculating duties, making the process easier, the commission promised.

"The legislative proposals will now be sent to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union for agreement, and to the European Economic and Social Committee for consultation," the commission's news release said.