The European Union has closed a agreement to thoroughly renew its common customs policy with a dual objective: to simplify and accelerate procedures, but also strengthen the supervision of 'online' sellers and platforms such as Shein and Temu. These companies will become directly responsible for ensuring that the products they market in the community market comply with European regulations and will risk economic sanctions when they incur repeated non-compliance.
The Commissioner for Trade, Maros Sefcovic, has defined as “historic” the agreement reached between the negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council, understanding that it represents a “transformative step towards a more unified and modern system”. The reform, which must still receive in the coming months the formal approval of the Twenty-Seven and the plenary of the European Parliament, foresees the creation of a large central data management platform that will coordinate the actions of national customs under the umbrella of the European Customs Authority (EUCA, by its acronym in English), which will finally have its headquarters in the French city of Lille.
This European data center must start in 2028 for e-commerce and reach its full operation for all companies in 2031, with the goal of becoming the “single customs entry point” of the Union by 2034. This aims to simplify bureaucracy and reduce costs both for the administrations responsible for controls and for companies that import goods.
The European Parliament details that companies that systematically violate community legislation will face fines of at least 1% and up to 6% of the total value of goods introduced into the European market during the last 12 months. In addition, authorities may suspend, revoke or annul their status as a trusted operator or Authorized Economic Operator and classify them as “high-risk” operators.
According to data from the European Commission, only in 2025, 5.9 billion low-value shipments directly addressed to final consumers arrived in the community market, of which 90% came from China. The sharp increase in these packages and the complexity of the procedures have hindered customs control and have increased the danger that illegal or dangerous products end up in the hands of European citizens.
New fees and surcharges for online commerce
As a preview of this reform, the European Union approved last December a transitional measure by which, starting next July, a 3-euro tariff will be applied to low-value packages (less than 150 euros). With this provisional solution, the tax exemption that benefited this type of purchase is eliminated until the new customs system is fully operational.
With this decision, the community bloc seeks to equalize the conditions of competition between cross-border e-commerce and small traditional commerce. Once the European customs data center is up and running, the usual customs duties will be applied again, as explained by the European Commission.
The reform also includes an “additional management fee” that will start to be charged, at the latest, in November 2026 to compensate for the customs' workload overload due to the rise of online purchases from platforms like Temu, Shein or Amazon. This surcharge must be assumed by the same entity that pays the rest of the shipping's customs expenses, in order to prevent it from affecting the final consumer.
The specific amount of this fee is not yet fixed, but it will be calculated based on the minimum costs borne by the authorities when processing packages, such as IT resources and the personnel needed to verify data, perform risk analyses, and carry out controls when appropriate. The European Commission will determine the price and review it every two years.
The platforms assume the responsibility of the goods
Another central pillar of the reform is that operators become fully “responsible” for the goods they introduce into the European Union. Online platforms and sellers will be obliged to communicate sales information to the customs data center immediately after making them, which will allow authorities to act even before products cross the Union's external border.
Operators must also ensure compliance with all European regulations applicable to their products, both in tax matters and in the rest of non-tax requirements, for which specific sanctions are foreseen in case of repeated infringements. Brussels stresses that this change will alleviate the burden of responsibility that until now largely fell on individual consumers.
In practice, low-cost platforms that ship directly to the European buyer will be considered importers. This implies that they must provide customs with all necessary data, pay or secure the corresponding costs, and ensure that the items comply with EU legislation.
To prevent them from using “ghost companies” to evade these obligations, the reform establishes that these companies must have an establishment in the European Union or be represented by an entity based in the EU that has the status of an authorized economic operator or a trusted operator.
The consumers celebrate “the end of impunity”
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC, for its acronym in French) has welcomed the reform, considering that it marks “the end of impunity” for those sellers and online platforms that have been “ignoring for a long time” European safety standards.
“Europe has been overwhelmed by a tsunami of packages from China and customs authorities simply have not been able to manage it,” said in a statement the director general of BEUC, Agustín Reyna, who sees in this agreement a decisive step to “change course” and stop the arrival of dangerous products to the community market.
The organization also highlights that the new framework "will protect fair competition", as it will support companies that comply with community legislation against those that obtained advantages by breaking the rules.
Despite the advance that the reform represents, consumer associations warn that there is still work ahead and demand that customs authorities be provided with the necessary human, technological, and legal resources to effectively apply what has been agreed.