The Council of the European Union (EU) and the European Parliament have reached a long-awaited political agreement to reform the Union Customs Code (UCC). The European Commission presented the UCC reform proposal in May 2023, and the European Parliament adopted its position at first reading in March 2024. The text has since been pending the Council’s first reading for two years.
The agreed text has not yet been published. However, the following changes are expected:
1. The EU Customs Data Hub
One of the pillars of the reform is the creation of the EU Customs Data Hub, a centralized digital platform that will serve as the sole point of interaction between businesses and customs authorities across the EU. It aims to eliminate the current IT fragmentation across the 27 EU member states. Businesses will submit their customs data to the Data Hub, and that information may cover multiple consignments and be accessible to all relevant national authorities. The rollout will be phased: the