New EU Customs Code 2026/2108: what changes for product importers

What changes with the new EU Customs Code?

Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 replaces the 2013 Union Customs Code in its entirety. It also establishes the European Union Customs Authority (based in Lille) and the EU Customs Data Hub, the single platform for exchanging data with and between customs authorities.

For importers of consumer products, the main change concerns the role of customs in product compliance. The code uses the term ‘other legislation applied by the customs authorities’ for non-customs legislation that applies to goods entering, exiting or passing through the customs territory of the Union, or to goods to be placed on the Union market, and in the implementation of which the customs authorities are involved. The code expressly includes product safety legislation. The Commission draws up and publishes on its website an integrated list of Union legal acts laying down requirements for goods subject to customs controls.

What obligations does the importer have under the new EU Customs Code?

The code sets out the obligations of the importer towards the customs authorities. There is only one importer at a time. The importer:

• Provides or makes available to customs, before the release of the goods, the information required for the customs procedure and keeps it
• Ensures payment of customs duties and other applicable charges
• Ensures that the goods entering the Union comply with the other legislation applied by customs, provides or makes available appropriate records of such compliance and keeps them
• Notifies customs of any suspicious movements or unauthorised handling of the goods of which it is aware
• Fulfils the other obligations that customs legislation places on the importer

The code does not list which records are appropriate. It requires them to show that the goods comply with the legislation that applies to them. For the purposes of customs controls, documents and information are kept for at least three years from the end of the year of release, unless otherwise stated.

Goods intended to be placed on the Union market are placed under the release for free circulation procedure. One of the conditions of the procedure is that the goods comply with the relevant other legislation. For this procedure, the data provided to customs include at least:

• The importer responsible for the goods, the seller and the buyer
• The manufacturer (as defined by product legislation) and the product supplier where different
• The responsible economic operator in the Union under the Market Surveillance Regulation and the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR, Regulation (EU) 2023/988)
• Value, origin, tariff classification and description of the goods, with the reference and location of the consignment
• The list of relevant other legislation applied by customs

What happens at customs if the product does not comply?

Under the new EU Customs Code, the release of the goods is not proof of conformity. Customs refuse the release if they have any evidence that the goods do not comply with the relevant other legislation. They suspend it if they have reason to believe that the goods do not comply or that they present a serious risk to health, to the environment or to another public interest. They also suspend it at the request of another competent authority.

During the suspension, customs consult the competent authorities and decide on the basis of their reply. If those authorities request a refusal, customs refuse the release. If they approve the release, the goods are released. The goods are also released when the authorities do not reply within the time limit set by the relevant legislation or, where there is no time limit, within five days. If the authorities request more time to assess compliance, the suspension lasts no longer than 90 days.

A finding of non-compliance can also affect other consignments. Customs assess whether goods in other consignments present a similar risk. In such cases they may deem them non-compliant or refuse their release. This rule does not apply if the importer provides proof that the goods that have not been verified are compliant. Non-compliance notified to customs is also taken into account in the importer’s risk profile.

The costs of transport and handling for the examination of the goods are borne by the importer. The costs of destroying the goods that cannot be released, and of the other measures to dispose of them, are borne by the importer or the holder of the goods.

Are the customs importer and the GPSR importer the same person?

Not always. Outside distance sales, the code identifies the importer by applying these criteria in order:

• The person who has the power to decide and has decided that goods from a third country are to be brought into the customs territory of the Union
• The person who has taken over that power from the previous person
• The succeeding person who has decided to have the goods placed under a customs procedure
• The carrier who brings the goods into the customs territory of the Union
• The holder of the goods, meaning the person who has physical control of them

Under the GPSR, by contrast, the importer is any natural or legal person established within the Union who places a product from a third country on the Union market. The criteria differ, because the code looks at who decides to bring the goods into the customs territory and the GPSR at who places the product on the market. One clear difference concerns establishment. The customs code allows, in some cases, an importer not established in the Union, for example when it is represented by an indirect customs representative established in the Union. Under the GPSR the importer is always established in the Union.

The data for release for free circulation also distinguish the importer responsible for the goods from the responsible economic operator in the Union provided for by the GPSR. That operator can be:

• The manufacturer established in the Union
• The importer
• The authorised representative
• The fulfilment service provider

The importer’s obligations under the GPSR are described on the page Importer’s Obligations under Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR).

What role do freight forwarders and customs representatives play?

When a freight forwarder acts as an indirect customs representative, the new EU Customs Code assigns to it the importer’s obligations towards customs, including compliance with the other legislation applied by customs. Representation is direct when the representative acts in the name of and on behalf of another person. It is indirect when it acts in its own name but on behalf of another person. The position of the indirect representative depends on where the importer is established:

• If it acts for an importer established in the Union, it is jointly and severally responsible with the importer for all the importer’s obligations, including the compliance of the goods
• If it acts for an importer not established in the Union, it is considered to be the importer for the same obligations

The customs representative is established in the Union. To operate in a Member State other than its own, it must have the status of authorised economic operator for customs simplification or that of Trust and Check trader. The same applies to placing goods sold in distance sales under the release for free circulation procedure.

Who is the importer in online sales from third countries?

In distance sales of goods imported from third countries, the importer is the importer for distance sales. The new EU Customs Code defines it as either the person supplying goods in distance sales or the person facilitating distance sales. According to the recitals, the importer is the person selling or the person facilitating the sale, depending on the arrangements made. In this way the importer is an economic operator and not the consumer.

A seller not established in the Union can be the importer if it is represented by an indirect customs representative established in the Union. For distance sales, the representative must have the status of authorised economic operator for customs simplification or that of Trust and Check trader.

From 1 July 2028, importers for distance sales and persons using the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS scheme) provide the data through the EU Customs Data Hub. From the same date the customs warehouse for distance sales becomes available, reserved for importers for distance sales that use the IOSS scheme and have the status of Trust and Check trader. Their indirect representatives having the status of Trust and Check trader can also use it. Goods may enter it only if they already comply with the other legislation applicable to release for free circulation. The safety of products sold online is also covered on the page E-commerce Product Safety.

What is the Union handling fee?

The Union handling fee applies to the request for release for free circulation of goods sold in distance sales. It is a fixed amount per item. Under the code, an item is one or more goods in a consignment sharing the same tariff classification, the same description and, where required, the same origin.

The amount corresponds to the approximate costs of the services rendered by customs, including checking the data, carrying out risk analysis and controls. It is lower for goods sold from a customs warehouse for distance sales and is non-refundable. It is paid by the debtor of the customs debt at least once a month.

The amount is set by the Commission in a delegated act. The code required its adoption by 29 September 2026. The fee applies 10 days after the entry into force of that act. As of 11 October 2026, the delegated act does not appear to have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

What will market surveillance authorities see?

From 1 July 2028, market surveillance authorities may process the data in the EU Customs Data Hub, including personal and commercially sensitive data. They may do so only to the extent necessary for enforcing Union rules on the placing on the market or the safety of products. They may also use the data to cooperate with customs and minimise the risk that non-compliant goods enter the Union.

Cooperation also works the other way. Where a customs authority suspects that goods do not comply with other legislation applied by customs, it immediately shares that information with the competent authorities. The EU Customs Data Hub will also make it possible to report goods to be imported or exported that do not comply with Union legislation applied by customs.

Why does product compliance matter for customs facilitations?

To obtain the status of authorised economic operator, which gives facilitations in customs controls, the applicant must have no serious or repeated infringements of the other legislation applied by customs, where the authority is aware of them. It must also demonstrate satisfactory procedures for the requirements of that legislation, including product safety legislation. In addition, it must have effectively remedied any non-compliance.

The new EU Customs Code also provides for the status of Trust and Check trader. Importers, exporters and indirect representatives established in the Union with regular customs operations for at least two years can apply for it. The criteria include safety, security and compliance standards, including product safety standards. An electronic system is also required that makes available to customs, as far as possible in real time, data on the movement of the goods and on compliance with the applicable requirements.

A Trust and Check trader can, among other things, defer payment of customs duties and release the goods on behalf of customs upon their arrival at the place of business of the importer, owner or consignee. The status is suspended if customs become aware of an infringement of the other legislation that the importer must comply with.

What penalties does the new EU Customs Code provide?

Penalties remain national. The code sets a minimum list of infringements that every Member State must penalise and allows Member States to provide for others or take more stringent measures. Member States notify their rules to the Commission by 19 March 2028.

The minimum infringements include failure to comply with the importer’s obligations, including the obligation to ensure and document the compliance of the goods with the other legislation. When choosing the penalty, account is taken, among other things, of the gravity and repetition of the infringement. Intent or negligence and cooperation with customs also count. Penalties can take the form of:

• A pecuniary charge
• The revocation, suspension or amendment of an authorisation
• The confiscation of the goods involved in the infringement
• A warning or another penalty

For distance sales, the code sets common minimums for systematic non-compliance. Non-compliance is systematic where, within one calendar month, it shows up in a sufficiently representative number of cases out of a substantive number of customs controls. The thresholds are set by the Commission in a delegated act, due by 1 March 2028. The minimum penalties are:

• First systematic infringement, at least a pecuniary charge between 1% and 4% of the total value of the goods imported into the Union by the operator during the preceding 12 months, with suspension, revocation or annulment of the authorised economic operator or Trust and Check trader status
• Further systematic infringement within six months, at least a pecuniary charge between 3% and 6% of the same value
• Further systematic infringement within another six months, at least a pecuniary charge between 3% and 6% of the same value, suspension of the release of all the operator’s goods for at least six months and, where relevant, temporary restriction of access to its online interface

An operator penalised for a systematic infringement is classified as a high-risk economic operator in the EU Customs Data Hub.