New Union Customs Code: what Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 changes, and when

Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 is repealed. Delegated and implementing acts adopted under it continue to apply until the Commission replaces them, and references to the old code are read as references to the new one (Article 284(1)). Much of the detail is still to follow in such acts, some of them by fixed dates (Article 286).

Timetable

The regulation applies in stages (Articles 285 and 287):

• On entry into force: the provisions setting up the EU Customs Authority and the Data Hub, the framework for the Union handling fee, and the rule that the transaction value of goods bought in distance sales is based on that sale (Article 175).
• From 21 September 2027: the code in general.
• From 1 July 2028: importers for distance sales and persons using the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) provide their data through the Data Hub. Release by Trust and Check traders and customs warehouses for distance sales start on the same date.
• Until 28 February 2031: other importers, exporters and holders of the transit procedure lodge customs declarations as now. From 1 March 2031 they may use the Data Hub instead.
• From 1 March 2034: the Data Hub is mandatory for all.

The handling fee itself applied 10 days after the entry into force of the delegated act that sets its amount (Article 287(4)). That is the €2 fee described in Union handling fee of €2 from 1 November 2026.

The importer

There is only one importer at a time (Article 27(1)). In distance sales, the importer is the importer for distance sales: the person supplying the goods or the person facilitating the sale (Article 5, points (13) and (14)). The recitals explain the choice: that person determines the supply chain and bears the risk until delivery (recital 143).

The importer provides the required data before release, ensures payment of duties and other charges, and ensures that the goods comply with other legislation applied by customs, such as product rules (Article 27(2)). The importer must be established in the EU, unless an exception applies, such as representation by an indirect representative established in the EU (Article 27(3)).

An indirect representative acting for an importer outside the EU is treated as the importer (Article 33(3)). Only a representative with the status of authorised economic operator for customs simplification, or of Trust and Check trader, may place goods sold in distance sales under release for free circulation (Article 33(7)).

Trust and Check traders

The code adds a new status next to the authorised economic operator. An importer, exporter or indirect representative established in the EU may apply after at least two years of regular customs operations (Article 31(1)). The customs authority reviews the applicant’s data for the last three years (Article 31(2)).

The status can bring several simplifications (Article 31(8)):

• providing part of the data after release;
• releasing goods at its own premises;
• periodic determination and deferred payment of the customs debt;
• moving goods under a duty-suspensive regime without a transit procedure.

Release at its own premises applies from 1 July 2028 (Article 78).

Customs warehouse for distance sales

Only an importer for distance sales that uses IOSS and is a Trust and Check trader, or its indirect representative with that status, may store goods in a customs warehouse for distance sales before the sale (Article 145(1)). The goods must comply with the rules for release for free circulation, be packed in collective packages of alike goods, and arrive in quantities that allow effective controls (Article 145(2)). A lower handling fee applies to goods sold from such a warehouse (Article 20(4)).

Penalties in distance sales

Penalties remain a matter for national law, but the code sets a floor for systematic failures in distance sales. The penalty is at least 1% and up to 4% of the total value of the goods imported by that operator in the preceding 12 months (Article 276(1)). A further systematic infringement within six months leads to at least 3% and up to 6% (Article 276(4)). After that, access to the operator’s online interface may be restricted for a time (Article 276(5)).

A systematic infringement also leads to the suspension, revocation or annulment of the status of authorised economic operator or Trust and Check trader (Article 276(3)). The operator is classified as high-risk in the Data Hub (Article 277(1)). The Commission must define when a failure is systematic by 1 March 2028 (Articles 276(6) and 286(1)).

Online sellers outside the EU and platforms carry the role and the obligations of importer, including compliance with product rules. Without establishment in the EU, they need an indirect representative with authorised economic operator or Trust and Check status, and that representative is treated as the importer.

For other traders, customs declarations continue until 2031. The questions now are whether Trust and Check status is worth applying for, given the two-year track record and the review of three years of data, and how systems and brokers will connect to the Data Hub before 2034.

The new code is largely a framework: the amounts, procedures and IT depend on acts the Commission has yet to adopt. The penalties for distance sales are measured against all imports of the operator over 12 months, not against the goods concerned, which makes them significant for large platforms. Other penalties stay national, and by 21 September 2032 the Commission must assess whether harmonised pecuniary charges are needed (Article 275(4)).