According to the Financial Times, the EU’s customs reform will require online platforms to provide data before goods arrive in the EU, allowing officials to better control and inspect packages. This proposal comes amid concerns over the increase in dangerous and counterfeit goods being shipped directly from Asia to customers in Europe.
Currently, for customs, any individual in the EU who buys goods online is considered an importer. However, once the reform is approved, the responsibility will shift to e-commerce platforms. The proposal states: “The prevalence of unsafe, counterfeit, or non-compliant products poses serious safety and health risks to consumers, has an unsustainable impact on the environment, and creates unfair competition for legitimate businesses, severely affecting the competitiveness of various industries.”
In 2024, the EU imported 4.6 billion low-value parcels, four times the amount in 2022, with more than 90% of them coming from China. According to the draft, the enormous number of parcels creates “unsustainable pressure on authorities.” Under the reform plan, online retailers must “collect relevant taxes and VAT” and “ensure that goods comply with other EU requirements.” The proposal also abolishes the current exemption from customs duties on goods valued below 150 euros, subjecting them to customs checks.
According to the draft, customs data from the authorities of the 27 EU member states will be centralized, and a Central EU Customs Agency (EUCA) will be established.
This document is still under internal discussion and may change before being published on February 5. According to the draft, “The EU Central Customs Agency will be able to screen goods based on this information, even identifying potential risks before the goods are loaded onto transport vehicles or actually arrive in the EU.”
Additionally, the document emphasizes: “This will provide customs authorities with an overview of the supply chain, predict control measures for imports and exports, and provide control recommendations for member states.”
According to the proposal, counterfeit and substandard goods have caused significant annual revenue losses to industries within the EU: the fashion industry loses nearly 12 billion euros in annual revenue (5% of revenue), the cosmetics industry loses 3 billion euros (5% of revenue), and the toy industry loses 1 billion euros annually (nearly 9% of revenue). Furthermore, the document also mentions that the EU’s new waste management regulations will require sellers to bear the cost of disposing of discarded products, including clothing.
The EU will also consider imposing a handling fee for each parcel. Additionally, under separate regulations on market behavior surveillance of large online platforms, the European Commission (EC) is currently investigating Shein and Amazon, while it has already started legal action against AliExpress and Temu.
E-commerce platforms are not held responsible for goods sold by third parties on their sites unless they intentionally sell illegal or dangerous products or fail to remove these products promptly once identified.
Temu and Shein have previously stated that they comply with EU regulations. Temu indicated its support for policies that benefit consumers, while Amazon stated that it has taken proactive measures to prevent unsafe or non-compliant products from being sold on its platform.
