European Parliament proposes EU customs reform, aims to simplify procedures for companies and authorities

On Thursday, the European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee adopted its position on the EU Customs Code reform that will restructure the way customs authorities work in the EU.

The proposed reform aims to relieve customs authorities who have come under huge pressure due to the exponential growth of e-commerce and many new product standards, bans, obligations and sanctions that the EU has put in place in recent years.

MEPs endorsed the Commission’s proposal while amending it to further simplify procedures, clarify data processing and accessibility, create a platform for whistleblowers, make the new EU DataHub available earlier, facilitate trade and lessen the burden, especially for SMEs.

New approach to e-commerce and ordering goods from outside the EU

Right now, 65% of e-commerce shipments are deliberately undervalued, which leads to significant revenue loss. Also, up to 66% of products purchased online do not meet EU safety standards. The new regulation would oblige large platforms to submit information about goods to be shipped to the EU within one day of them being purchased. That should give customs authorities a better overview of incoming shipments and goods that might not comply with EU norms.

More efficient customs checks and targeted controls

A new multi-level system of trusted traders would ensure that authorities do not lose time checking the same law-abiding companies all over again and focus on riskier businesses instead. Companies agreeing to go through thorough preliminary checks and vetting would benefit from a number of simplified procedures. The most trustworthy and transparent companies would get a trusted trader status that would enable them to undergo minimal checks and customs formalities.

New IT platform

The new law would establish an EU DataHub as the main platform for submitting information to customs authorities. This would allow a better overview of suspicious inconsistencies, potential tax fraud cases and risks related to certain companies or goods. Thanks to that, authorities would be able to focus their checks on the least trustworthy consignments and companies.

The platform would also benefit companies by replacing more than 111 separate customs-related IT systems currently used in Europe. Submitting information would become easier and this should reduce burden and costs.

MEPs want to make the EU DataHub operational earlier than proposed by the Commission (i.e. 2028) as a voluntary pilot project. In addition, they want to create a separate platform for whistleblowers so that consumers and businesses could easily report goods that do not comply with EU standards.