Real-time updates on the most comprehensive customs reform in EU history
Current Status: Active Trilogues Following the Council's adoption of its negotiating mandate on June 27, 2025, informal trilogue negotiations between the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council of the EU are now underway. This marks a critical phase in finalizing the reform package targeting 2026-2028 implementation.
Key open items still being discussed:
• Location of the EU Customs Authority:
The Council has left open the question of where the EU Customs Authority should be located, with France and Spain tipped as favorites for hosting the new centralized agency.
• E-commerce handling fee structure:
A non-discriminatory handling fee for goods imported into the EU directly to consumers is being discussed, with considerable need for coordination regarding the specific organization of the processing fee in e-commerce. The expectation is that this fee will be frontloaded, during 2026;
• Implementation timeline acceleration:
Some member states want to bring the go-live date forward from 2028, while the Commission proposes to frontload the customs reform to 2026, particularly the establishment of the EU Customs Authority and preparations for the EU Customs Data Hub.
• Simplified tariff system details:
Discussions on certain aspects including a simplified tariff system will take place at a later stage, as the Council's current mandate only covers core aspects of the reform.
• Trust & Check trader system coordination: The relationship between the new Trust and Check model and existing Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status needs clarification, as the Council did not adopt the Commission's original proposal to abolish AEO status for those not meeting Trust and Check requirements.
• Infringements and sanctions
The title on customs infringements and sanctions put forward by the Commission and amended by the Parliament has been reduced to one article by the Council, showing a clear dismissal of any legal harmonization of customs enforcement
The trilogue process began in July 2025 under the Danish Presidency, with the aim of reaching a political agreement before the end of 2025, though the UCC reform is not expected to enter into force before January 2028.
Daily low-value consignments surged from 4 million in 2022 to 12 million in 2024.
E-commerce Compliance Challenges Driving Customs Reform:
The explosive growth of e-commerce has fundamentally disrupted traditional customs operations, creating unprecedented compliance challenges that have forced governments worldwide to modernize their customs frameworks.
Volume and Scale Pressures
E-commerce has generated billions of small, low-value packages crossing borders annually, overwhelming customs systems originally designed for bulk commercial shipments. Traditional paper-based processes and manual inspections became completely inadequate for handling this massive influx of individual consumer purchases.
Revenue and Security Gaps
The surge in small parcels created significant revenue leakage through under-declaration and misclassification, while simultaneously presenting security risks that were difficult to assess using conventional screening methods. Customs authorities struggled to balance trade facilitation with revenue protection and border security.
Failure of customs risk assessments
The safety and security system ICS2, nor the national systems, nor the customs authorities staffing are currently adequate to manage the Ecommerce volumes
The result has been a fundamental shift from traditional customs control models toward data-driven, technology-enabled systems that can handle the speed and volume demands of digital commerce while maintaining regulatory oversight.
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