On 3 September 2026, the Council of the European Union gave its final approval to the recast Union Customs Code and the new EU Customs Authority, the most comprehensive overhaul of the EU customs framework in decades. The regulation repeals Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 and shifts customs responsibility for direct-to-consumer imports onto the platforms that sell them. The Council adopted its position at first reading; the European Parliament is expected to vote its final text later in September, ahead of signature and publication in the Official Journal.
The reform turns three structural screws at once: non-EU e-commerce platforms become the importer of record for goods sold into the EU, a new penalty regime exposes them to fines of up to 6% of their annual import value, and a decentralised EU Customs Authority in Lille will run a single EU customs data hub from 2027. The Council's press release of 3 September 2026 frames the package as a tool to facilitate legitimate trade while tightening controls on non-compliant, dangerous and unsafe goods. The vote formalises the political agreement reached with the Parliament in trilogue on 26 March 2026.
Which operators must now act as the EU importer of record?
Non-EU e-commerce platforms, not the final EU consumer, are now responsible for ensuring that all customs formalities and duty payments are handled when goods are sold into the EU. The recast Union Customs Code clarifies this deemed-importer rule directly, ending the model in which individual parcels cleared customs through the consumer or a postal aggregator.
The obligation lands on the operators that move the largest volumes. In 2025, EU customs handled around 6 billion e-commerce parcels, over 90% of them originating in China, alongside 1.5 billion items in traditional trade. The commercial actors exposed to the new importer-of-record duty are the large non-EU marketplaces selling into the bloc, the same platforms already in scope of the Digital Services Act and EU customs enforcement attention.
Non-compliance carries real teeth. The most serious cases can incur fines of up to 6% of the company's annual import value of goods in the preceding year, removal of certain customs privileges, and even access restrictions to online platforms. Compliance teams at these platforms must now own end-to-end customs declaration and duty payment, not just fulfilment.
When does the small-parcel handling fee apply, and what about the EUR 150 exemption?
To cover the rising cost of monitoring small parcels, an EU-wide handling fee on small parcels enters into force by 1 November 2026. The European Commission will set the level of the fee before EU member states begin applying it. This is the first concrete, dated obligation in the package and lands roughly two months after the Council vote.
The handling fee is separate from the Council's earlier decision to remove the historical customs duty exemption for imports valued below EUR 150. Both moves together close the low-value loophole that the prior de minimis regime had opened for direct-to-consumer consignments.
What is the EU Customs Authority, and when does the data hub become mandatory?
The text establishes a new decentralised EU agency for customs, the EU Customs Authority, located in Lille, France and beginning operations in 2027, as confirmed by the Council in March 2026. The authority will analyse import and export data from the new EU customs data hub, set priority control areas and risk criteria, and coordinate EU-level customs crisis management.
The EU customs data hub is the single central platform where importers and exporters interact with customs across the bloc. Its use becomes mandatory for e-commerce businesses on 1 July 2028 and for all traders from 1 March 2034. Member states will rely on the hub to identify the riskiest cargo for inspection, replacing fragmented national channels.
What changes for reliable traders under Trust and Check?
The reform creates a new tier of the most transparent businesses, trust and check traders. Companies that provide comprehensive information on the movement and compliance of their goods, and meet the other stringent criteria, receive simplified customs procedures and can release their goods into circulation in the EU without any active customs intervention. The scheme rewards data quality with speed and is the successor logic to the existing authorised economic operator (AEO) model under Regulation (EU) No 952/2013.
| Milestone | Date | Who is affected |
|---|---|---|
| Council final approval (first reading) | 3 September 2026 | Council adopted; EP votes later in September |
| Small-parcel handling fee applies | 1 November 2026 | All non-EU e-commerce platforms and parcel importers |
| EU Customs Authority begins operations | 2027 | National customs authorities, the Commission |
| Data hub mandatory for e-commerce | 1 July 2028 | E-commerce businesses |
| Data hub mandatory for all traders | 1 March 2034 | All EU importers and exporters |
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For compliance teams, the next steps are concrete: confirm whether your platform or clients fall under the deemed-importer rule and budget for the 6% penalty exposure, track the Commission's fee-level decision before 1 November 2026, and assess readiness for the data hub well ahead of the 2028 e-commerce deadline. Obsidian surfaces customs and trade developments like this the moment a council or authority publishes, so the team that acts on the first day, not the week after the deadline, stays ahead.
