The EU has fundamentally restructured its customs code. The new regulation has been in force since September 2026. The centerpiece is a new EU customs authority, the so-called EU Customs Authority, headquartered in Lille. This is complemented by a central EU Customs Data Hub.
For freight forwarders and customs agents, this is important: it does not mean that all current systems will be discontinued immediately. The transition will take place over several years. The new data hub is intended to gradually replace the many national customs IT systems.
E-commerce is affected particularly early. Online platforms and sellers from third countries will be held more responsible. For e-commerce, the new data hub is to become mandatory from July 2028. For the rest of trade, the transition will follow later.
The objective is clear: data should be submitted only once and then used for various customs processes. At the same time, the EU wants to assess risks more centrally. This should lead to more uniform controls in the long term.
For traditional freight forwarding companies, not every declaration will change today. But the direction is clear. Those with significant EU customs business should monitor the introduction of the Data Hub and the new authorization models. Software providers and customs departments in particular will need to adapt their processes.
One small stumbling block remains: the reform is enormous and many technical details are still to come. Therefore, you should not interpret every deadline as a final operational start date.