CERTEX in the context of the EU Customs Reform

Anthony Buckley, former Head of Irish Customs, explains what Certex (the Customs Single Window Certificate Exchange) is, how it works, and why it is central to the EU Customs Reform and the future EU Customs Authority — essential viewing for anyone managing customs certificates, licences, or e-commerce imports into the EU.

Topics covered:

• The current state of the EU Customs Reform: the agreed Customs Reform programme, Lille as the seat of the EU Customs Authority, abolition of the €150 low-value duty threshold from 1 July 2026, the temporary €3-per-item duty on low-value consignments, and the planned handling fee from 1 November 2026
• What the EU Customs Data Hub is and how it will be populated, starting with e-commerce (H7) declarations from 2028
• The EU Customs Single Window: its two phases (customs-official use to 2031, then business-to-government access for economic operators)
• What Certex (CSW Certex) is, how it was created under Regulation (EU) 2022/2399, and how it matches certificates and licences to customs declarations without storing data itself
• Ireland's pilot and phased rollout of Certex, including CBAM, organic-product certificates, fluorinated greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting substances and cultural goods
• Which other member states are advanced in their Certex implementation
• Practical teething problems, such as data-matching mismatches (e.g. net mass on TRACES vs customs declarations) and lack of operator training
• The benefits and current limitations of matching and cross-border communication between customs authorities
• The longer-term challenges of regulatory harmonisation and separation of functions within supply chains

For a broader overview of the topic, please watch the full recording. The slides are available in the Resources section.

Please note that this summary was generated using AI, based on the recording and available slides.