The Council formally adopted its position at first reading on 3 September 2026 (document 8190/2/26 REV 2). European Parliament sign-off and Official Journal publication are still to come — but Council and Parliament already reached full political agreement back in March 2026, so the substance below is unlikely to change much before it becomes law.
The headline
The EU is finalising the biggest overhaul of its customs code since 1992. For non-EU businesses trading into the EU — and for the companies that represent them at customs — the reform changes how indirect representation works. Non-EU established companies can keep importing and trading in the EU; that route is not closing. But the compliance profile of it is changing substantially, and it is worth preparing for now rather than waiting for the Official Journal text.
What’s actually changing
| Topic | Today (UCC 2013) | Under the reform |
| “Importer” | No legal definition exists in the current Code. | Formally defined for the first time. Only one importer at a time; a separate “importer for distance sales” concept is introduced for e-commerce/B2C. |
| Indirect rep. liability | Joint & several liability for the customs debt only (CJEU C-714/20 confirmed this excludes import VAT unless national law says otherwise). | Assumes all obligations of the importer/exporter — financial and non-financial (product safety, environmental rules, IP, other product-specific legislation). In practice, treated as the importer/exporter in its own right. |
| EU establishment | Indirect representative must be EU-established. | Requirement reaffirmed and reinforced; the Commission may still carve out specific waivers later by delegated act. |
| Distance sales / e-commerce | No specific qualification required of the representative. | Where the non-EU seller/platform is the “importer for distance sales,” the indirect representative must hold Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status. |
| Non-compliance | Duty recovery plus national penalty regimes. | New EU-wide penalty framework for distance-sales importers: fines of up to 6% of annual import value for serious/repeated breaches, loss of trusted-trader status, possible online-platform suspension. |
| Route without EU presence | Indirect representation available. | Explicitly preserved as “an available and proportionate alternative” — but now carries materially more exposure for the representative. |
If you act as an indirect representative
- Your liability shifts from “pay the duty if it’s wrong” to full regulatory compliance for the goods you represent.
- Expect to expand due diligence into your principal’s product compliance — not just classification, valuation and origin.
- Distance-sales clients will need you to hold AEO status to keep representing them.
- Fee structures, guarantees and client-acceptance criteria will likely need revisiting — a trend already underway since CJEU C-714/20, now materially widened.
- Some representatives may step back from indirect representation altogether, tightening market capacity.
If you are a non-EU business trading into the EU
- You can continue importing and trading in the EU without an EU establishment — this route is not being closed.
- Expect your representative to ask for more: more data, more assurances, potentially higher fees and guarantees.
- If you sell via distance sales/e-commerce, confirm your representative holds — or will obtain — AEO status.
- Start reviewing your representation arrangements and supply-chain compliance now; the runway after formal publication will be short.
Anticipated timeline
| May 2023 | European Commission publishes the recast proposal. |
| Mar 2024 / Feb 2025 | European Parliament adopts its first-reading position. |
| 26 Mar 2026 | Council and Parliament reach political agreement in trilogue. |
| 3 Sept 2026 | Current status — Council formally adopts its position at first reading. |
| Sept 2026 (exp.) | European Parliament expected to give final approval. |
| Q4 2026 (exp.) | Signature and publication in the EU Official Journal. |
| +20 days (exp.) | Entry into force (standard EU practice). |
| ~2027 (exp.) | General application of most provisions, including importer / indirect representation rules — commentary points to roughly 12 months after publication. |
| 1 Jul 2028 | EU Customs Data Hub becomes mandatory for e-commerce operators. |
| 1 Mar 2034 | EU Customs Data Hub becomes mandatory for all traders — full transition complete. |
Please get in touch with us now
If you have any questions about how this reform — and the changes to indirect representation in particular — affects your business, please get in touch with us today. This note is based on Council document 8190/2/26 REV 2 (position at first reading, adopted 3 September 2026) and Council of the EU press communications; it is a summary for general orientation, not legal advice, and reflects a text not yet published in the Official Journal.