EU Customs Reform: What will change in the import process?

Michael Lux
Michael Lux
Attorney at Michael Lux BV, former Head of Unit ‘Customs Legislation’ and ‘Customs Procedures’, EU Commission, Michael Lux BV, Belgium
Published 02 May 2024
EU Customs Reform: What will change in the import process?
Paveikslėlis iš video, publikuoto reformai dedikuotoje Komisijos svetainėje
Topic spotlight
Procedures
Customs law
This article continues the overview of certain aspects of the EU Customs Reform. In a previous article, the author described why and how the Commission intends to impose the obligations for importing goods on a single person, the importer in three variants: the regular importer, the deemed importer (for e-commerce) and the indirect customs representative representing both types of importers. In this article, the author focuses on the proposed import procedure, which consists of several consecutive steps.

Related content

CJEU: placed at the wrong office, relief lost

CJEU: placed at the wrong office, relief lost

Editorial Board
Editorial Board
16 Jul 2026

Outward processing is a procedure many practitioners treat as routine: Union goods leave the EU temporarily, are worked on abroad, and return with import duty charged on only part of…

Procedures
News in focus
View glossary entry

Centralised clearance for import (CCI): the customs rules are uniform, the tax rules are not

18 Aug 2026

What centralised clearance for import is, who can use it, which national tax rules follow the goods, and how it compares with customs procedure 42 and release after transit.

Procedures
Duties & taxes
View glossary entry

EORI number: the identifier customs uses to know who you are

13 Aug 2026

What an EORI number is, who must have one, how it is formatted and obtained, how national requirements differ, and how to keep it valid.

Procedures
View glossary entry

EU Customs Data Hub: submit your data once, for the whole EU

26 Jul 2026

The EU Customs Data Hub is the central digital platform of the EU customs reform: a single online environment where businesses submit their goods and supply-chain data once, for customs…

Procedures
Centralised clearance for import and deferred payment authorisations in Germany: practical challenges

Centralised clearance for import and deferred payment authorisations in Germany: practical challenges

Michael Lux
Michael Lux
04 Feb 2026

This article examines the practical and legal challenges arising from the use of Centralised Clearance for Import in Germany, with a particular focus on the interaction between EU customs law…

Procedures
Country update
Millions of declarations, one platform: new Italian IT customs platform project

Millions of declarations, one platform: new Italian IT customs platform project

Massimo De Gregorio
Massimo De Gregorio
23 Mar 2026

The Italian national federation of customs brokers’ associations has approved an ambitious project to establish a proprietary digital platform underpinned by actual operational customs declaration data - comprising millions of…

Procedures
Country update