European Union approves customs overhaul that makes online platforms liable for import duties

The Council of the European Union on Thursday approved a sweeping rewrite of the bloc’s customs rules, a move officials said is meant to bring the system in line with the scale of online trade, improve the collection of duties and taxes, and tighten checks on goods that do not meet European standards.

The reform shifts a central part of the burden for online imports onto non-EU e-commerce platforms. Under the new rules, platforms based outside the European Union will be treated as the importer when they sell goods into the bloc. That means they, rather than the buyer in Europe, will be responsible for customs formalities and for making sure duties are paid.

The Council said the change is designed to address a sharp rise in small parcels entering the European market and to close gaps that have made customs enforcement harder. The new legislation also creates a system of penalties for e-commerce operators that fail to meet their obligations, including cases in which proper duties are not paid or EU product standards are not respected. In the most serious cases, fines can reach as much as 6% of a company’s annual import value from the previous year. Authorities will also be able to withdraw some customs privileges and restrict access to online platforms.

A new EU-wide handling fee for small parcels will also be introduced by Nov. 1, 2026, to help cover the growing cost of monitoring the volume of low-value shipments arriving through online retail. The European Commission will set the level of that fee before member states begin applying it. The Council said the charge is separate from an earlier decision to remove the long-standing customs duty exemption for imports valued at less than €150.

The changes could carry practical consequences for the drinks trade, especially for wine, beer and spirits sold in small consignments across borders. Producers outside the European Union that sell directly to consumers, or rely on online marketplaces to move bottles into the bloc, may face higher compliance demands and potentially higher logistics costs once platforms become formally responsible for customs clearance and duty payments. Added fees on small parcels could also affect the economics of lower-value shipments, while stricter checks may increase pressure on import documentation, labeling and product traceability. Larger beverage groups and importers with established compliance systems may be better positioned to adapt than smaller sellers that depend on fragmented direct-to-consumer channels.

The reform also creates a new decentralized EU customs authority, which will be based in Lille, France, and is scheduled to begin operating in 2027. Its role will be to help coordinate the governance of the customs union and support national customs offices with data analysis, risk management and crisis response.

At the center of that effort is a new EU customs data hub, described by the Council as a single digital platform through which importers and exporters will interact with customs authorities across the bloc. The authority will use the hub’s constantly updated import and export data to identify high-risk cargo for inspection, define priority control areas and risk criteria, and coordinate customs responses at the EU level during disruptions or emergencies.

The legislation also introduces a new category for companies considered the most transparent and reliable. Businesses that provide broad information on the movement of their goods and compliance with customs rules, and that meet other strict requirements, will be able to qualify as “trust and check” traders. Those companies will be given simplified customs procedures, which the Council said should save time and money. For the most trusted operators, goods could be released for circulation in the European Union without active customs intervention.

Thursday’s decision by the Council clears one of the last major steps for the overhaul, though the European Parliament is still expected to approve the final text later this month before the measure is formally signed and published in the EU’s official journal. The timeline for the digital system is longer. Use of the customs data hub will become mandatory for e-commerce businesses on July 1, 2028, and for all traders on March 1, 2034.

The European Union has operated a customs union for more than 50 years, with national customs offices working together across internal borders. The Council said the bloc handles more than €4.3 trillion in trade, or about 14% of global trade. In 2025, 2,200 customs offices and 84,000 customs officials collected almost €31 billion in customs duties and processed about 6 billion e-commerce parcels as well as more than 1.5 billion items in traditional trade. More than 90% of e-commerce parcels entering the European Union that year came from China.