The Council of the European Union (EU) and the European Parliament have reached a long-awaited political agreement to reform the Union Customs Code (UCC). The European Commission presented the UCC reform proposal in May 2023, and the European Parliament adopted its position at first reading in March 2024. The text has since been pending the Council’s first reading for two years.

The agreed text has not yet been published. However, the following changes are expected:

1. The EU Customs Data Hub

One of the pillars of the reform is the creation of the EU Customs Data Hub, a centralized digital platform that will serve as the sole point of interaction between businesses and customs authorities across the EU. It aims to eliminate the current IT fragmentation across the 27 EU member states. Businesses will submit their customs data to the Data Hub, and that information may cover multiple consignments and be accessible to all relevant national authorities. The rollout will be phased: the EU Customs Data Hub will become operational for e-commerce goods on July 1, 2028, with full expansion covering all movements of goods by March 1, 2034.

2. The EU Customs Authority

Alongside the EU Customs Data Hub, the reform establishes a new decentralized EU agency: the EU Customs Authority. The agency’s headquarters will be in Lille, France.

For the first time, the EU will have a dedicated agency responsible for coordinating and strengthening the Customs Union. The authority’s mandate covers several functions:

• Oversight of the EU Customs Data Hub, ensuring that the platform operates effectively and that data is used to its full potential.
• Risk analysis and management, by continuously analyzing import and export data flowing through the hub to identify the highest-risk cargoes entering the EU and prioritize them for inspection.
• Establishment of priority control areas and risk criteria, giving national customs offices consistent, EU-wide guidance on where to focus enforcement efforts.
• EU-level crisis management, coordinating responses to customs-related emergencies or disruptions that cross national borders.

The authority will be established on the date the overarching regulation enters into force, ensuring it is ready to begin operations as the new system rolls out in phases.

3. Trust and Check Traders

The reform introduces a new category of trader status: Trust and Check Traders (TCT). To qualify, companies must provide comprehensive information on the movement and compliance of their goods and meet a range of stringent criteria. In return, they receive meaningful operational benefits, including simplified procedures for temporary storage and transit and the ability to release goods into free circulation without active customs intervention.

However, the existing Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) scheme will not be discontinued. Rather, TCT status represents a more advanced tier for economic operators. In exchange, TCT holders will grant customs authorities access to their electronic systems recording their compliance and the movement of their goods.

4. E-Commerce: Managing Small Parcels

Due to the massive influx of low-value packages into the EU — largely driven by platforms selling directly from third countries after the COVID-19 crisis — the e-commerce area will be reconsidered. First, an EU-wide handling fee and national handling fees in several EU member states have already been discussed. The fee is intended to help cover the rising costs of monitoring and processing the exponential growth in small-parcel volume. Second, the reform makes clear that e-commerce platforms and distance sellers are themselves importers. This means that these operators — rather than individual buyers — will be responsible for ensuring compliance with all customs formalities and payment of all applicable duties and fees. Third, a new system of financial penalties will apply to e-commerce operators that systematically fail to comply with their customs obligations, providing meaningful enforcement teeth behind the new regulatory framework.

The exact details still need to be reviewed and analyzed, as the politically agreed text is not yet available. However, the UCC reform legislative process is nearing completion and — barring surprises — is expected to be formally adopted by the end of 2026. Once published in the EU’s Official Journal, the regulation will become applicable 12 months later. Some provisions will enter into force at varied times, such as those relating to the establishment of the EU Customs Authority or the EU Customs Data Hub. Additional delegated and implementing acts remain in the EU’s legislative pipeline to complete the implementation and enforcement of this ambitious and much-needed EU customs reform.