Articles
(759)Latest
After the fridge hacks: what changes for importers and brokers
Editorial Board09 Nov 2026
After the fridge hacks: what changes for importers and brokers
Hackers have tampered with blood storage refrigeration at three sites of France’s national blood service. Since October, attackers have taken over supermarket refrigeration in several European countries, spoiling stock. A connected product can now put public health at risk, not only a business. Under EU law, product cybersecurity is becoming...
Digitalisation
News in focus
EU customs and trade news: November 2026
Editorial Board08 Nov 2026
EU customs and trade news: November 2026
From 6 November, binding tariff information (BTI) decisions that conflict with new WCO classification measures must be revoked. New trade defence cases cover PET, polyamide-6 and polyether polyols. Each of this week’s 17 updates says what it means for you. Key changes of 1-8 November BTI decisions: from 6 November,...
Trade policy
News update
CN 2027: 35 new codes, from used beverage cans to rare earth magnets
Enrika Naujokė01 Nov 2026
CN 2027: 35 new codes, from used beverage cans to rare earth magnets
From 1 January 2027, used aluminium beverage cans have their own code in the Combined Nomenclature (CN). So do used aluminium wheels, hard disk drives as electrical waste and scrap, and the tubular steel monopile foundations that carry wind turbines. Aluminium waste and scrap goes from three codes to seven,...
Classification
Topic spotlight
EU customs and trade news: October 2026
Editorial Board04 Oct 2026Updated 01 Nov 2026
EU customs and trade news: October 2026
News in brief: CN 2027 published, with 35 new codes from 1 January 2027; AEO guarantee reduction extended to distance sales, and new codes for the handling fee from 1 November 2026; VAT on the EUR 3 duty and the handling fee - Commission guidance revised; NCTS Phase 6 deployed,...
News
News update
UK CBAM emissions and verification regulations laid: what importers need to know
Editorial Board15 Oct 2026Updated 01 Nov 2026
UK CBAM emissions and verification regulations laid: what importers need to know
On 9 September 2026, the UK Government laid the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (Emissions and Verification) Regulations 2026 (Statutory Instrument 2026/995) and updated its CBAM policy summary. Together they set out how importers must calculate, evidence and keep records of the carbon embodied in imported goods, less than four months...
Sustainability
News in focus
UK customs and trade news: October 2026
Editorial Board01 Nov 2026
UK customs and trade news: October 2026
News in brief: HMRC publishes illustrative UK CBAM rates, draft default values and rates guidance ahead of the 1 January 2027 start; consultation opened on extending CBAM to refinery products; UK Vaping Products Duty and the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme take effect from 1 October 2026, alongside higher tobacco duty...
Customs law
News update
Learning companion
More articles
Union handling fee: EUR 2 per item on e-commerce importsEditorial Board20 Oct 2026Updated 28 Oct 2026
Union handling fee: EUR 2 per item on e-commerce imports
On 8 October 2026 the Commission announced that its guidance on the EUR 3 customs duty now also covers the Union handling fee. The fee is EUR 2 per item and applies from 1 November 2026. This article answers three questions: does the fee apply to my declaration, what does...
E-commerce
News in focus
Dutch import ban on goods from Israeli settlements: where do trade obligations stand?
Omer Wagner28 Oct 2026
Dutch import ban on goods from Israeli settlements: where do trade obligations stand?
Can goods banned in one EU member state still be imported into another? The question arises following the Netherlands’ recent ban on goods originating from Israeli settlements in territories it regards as occupied. Until now, the EU has only denied such goods preferential tariff treatment, without prohibiting trade in them....
Restrictions
Country update
When customs asks about deforestation: audits and sustainability data
Barbara Bonafini26 Oct 2026
When customs asks about deforestation: audits and sustainability data
The scope of EU post-clearance audits is widening. Under the new Union Customs Code, the audit will follow the data a company provides or makes available in the EU Customs Data Hub - and the same data points decide whether CBAM, the EU Deforestation Regulation and the digital product passport...
Sustainability
Compliance
Topic spotlight
The future of customs audits: from post-clearance to continuous?
The future of customs audits: from post-clearance to continuous?
25 Oct 2026
For decades, the post-clearance audit followed a familiar routine: goods are released, and years later auditors arrive to examine the declarations. The 34th Authors' Meeting asked whether that routine is coming to an end - and the timing was right: on 19 September 2026, the new Union Customs Code was...
Compliance
Topic spotlight
Product identifiers: what to declare from 1 November 2026Editorial Board20 Oct 2026
Product identifiers: what to declare from 1 November 2026
From 1 November 2026, customs declarations for goods sold online to EU customers must carry product identifiers. The codes are not new. Sellers use them to list products, and manufacturers use them to track stock. What is new is that customs want them too. The reason becomes clear in a...
E-commerce
News in focus
Can the EU strike a balance between worker protection, innovation and global AI competitiveness?
Ramūnas Šablinskas13 Apr 2025Updated 14 Oct 2026
Can the EU strike a balance between worker protection, innovation and global AI competitiveness?
Editor's note: Continuing the theme of the previous article (see 'Discussion of the most important AI risks'), the author looks at how the EU is trying to reconcile worker protection, innovation and global AI competitiveness while taking full account of citizens' concerns. The author discusses a recent opinion of the...
Digitalisation
Perspective
How can you train an artificial intelligence system to do what you need?Ramūnas Šablinskas12 Oct 2025Updated 14 Oct 2026
How can you train an artificial intelligence system to do what you need?
This article aims to explain how artificial intelligence (AI) systems are trained, how they differ from traditional programmes, and – most importantly for your daily work – when they can be trusted and what to expect from them in the future. We recognise the need for, and importance of, this...
Digitalisation
Perspective
UK customs and trade news: September 2026Editorial Board04 Oct 2026
UK customs and trade news: September 2026
News in brief: UK Global Tariff and other reference documents updated for 1 October 2026, including steel tariff-rate quotas, tariff suspensions and authorised use; CPTPP preferential tariff and origin reference documents updated; new UK vaping products duty and vaping duty stamps scheme to apply from 1 October 2026; UK CBAM...
News
News update
Ukraine customs and trade news: August/September 2026Editorial Board03 Oct 2026
Ukraine customs and trade news: August/September 2026
News in brief: Ukraine moves forward with EU-aligned e-commerce VAT rules; new Customs Code passes first reading; Ukraine steps up preparations for the EU's definitive CBAM regime, focusing on emissions verification, accreditation of Ukrainian verification bodies and the review of default emissions values; IMEI declaration becomes mandatory for mobile-phone imports;...
Customs law
News update
Supplier's declaration in preferential trade: when to use it?
Annette Reiser25 Jun 2023Updated 01 Oct 2026
Supplier's declaration in preferential trade: when to use it?
Global trade based on preferential treatment offers benefits to its participants. The main one is a reduction in financial costs due to the application of reduced tariff rates when the goods have a preferential origin. In other words, if a product originates in one country and is sold to another...
Origin
Topic spotlight