E-commerce platforms are expected to assume customs responsibility for imports sold to consumers in the EU

E-commerce platforms that facilitate the sale of goods from outside the EU would be responsible as importers for customs formalities and the payment of duties, according to the reform discussed in plenary by the European Parliament. The text shifts these obligations from the final buyer to the commercial operator and introduces progressive sanctions for systematic violations. The final vote by MEPs is scheduled for 16 September.

In briefPlatforms that facilitate the sale of goods from outside the EU would be responsible for customs formalities and the payment of duties. The text is awaiting the Parliament’s final vote, scheduled for 16 September.

Fines for systematic violations would start at 1–4% of the value of imports over the previous 12 months. Repeated violations within the prescribed period would raise the range to 3–6%, alongside the loss of customs facilitations.

The €3 customs duty already applicable and the processing fee provided for by the reform are different measures. For the latter, the Commission must establish the amount through a delegated act.

The European customs data platform would become mandatory for distance-sales importers from July 2028. General expansion is scheduled for March 2034, within a system coordinated together with the new customs authority in Lille.

The new definition of the importer for distance sales covers the person who supplies the goods or facilitates the sale. For the platforms concerned, the role of intermediary would no longer exclude customs liability. The Council presents the change as a way to identify the operator responsible for compliance with formalities and payment of duties when goods are sold to consumers in the Union.

Sanctions are linked to the value of the imported goods. For a systematic violation, the text provides for fines of between 1% and 4% of the operator’s total value of imports into the EU over the previous 12 months. A new systematic violation identified within six months of the sanction would raise the range to 3–6%. It is therefore neither a fine calculated on global turnover nor a ceiling automatically applicable to any error.

The operator would also lose the customs facilitations granted through authorised economic operator or trusted trader status. If systematic violations continue after the increased sanction, the text allows, depending on their seriousness, the operator’s access to the online interface to be temporarily restricted. The mechanism thus seeks both financial punishment and the limitation of the advantages enjoyed by a trader who continues to violate the rules.

The reform must be distinguished from the temporary €3 customs duty, applicable from 1 July 2026 to parcels under €150 sent directly to EU consumers. This is calculated for each distinct tariff category in the parcel, not for each physical item. In the Council’s example, one silk blouse and two wool blouses form two categories and generate a €6 duty.

Separately, the new code provides for a European processing fee for goods sold at a distance. This would cover costs such as data verification, risk analysis, infrastructure and customs controls, while the amount would be established by the Commission through a delegated act. The legal text links application of the fee to the expiry of ten days after that act enters into force. Therefore, the €3 amount does not represent the value of this processing fee.

Import controls would be supported by a common European customs data platform and the new EU Customs Authority, based in Lille. The authority would analyse the data to help national administrations identify high-risk consignments and coordinate control priorities. Access to shared information is the component through which the reform seeks to make checks more consistent across Member States.

Implementation would be phased. Distance-sales importers would have to use the data platform from 1 July 2028, while the general obligation for operators placing goods under a customs procedure would apply from 1 March 2034. Adoption of the reform would therefore not mean that the entire IT system and all new procedures become operational immediately.

The Council of the European Union approved the text on 3 September, and the plenary debate in Parliament took place on 14 September. The file is at the stage of Parliament’s approval at second reading. After the legislative procedure is concluded, the regulation must be signed and published in the Official Journal of the EU.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/platformele-de-comert-electronic-ar-urma-sa-preia-raspunderea-vamala-pentru-importurile-vandute-consumatorilor-din-ue