The proposed reform aims to relieve customs authorities who have come under huge pressure due to the exponential growth of e-commerce and many new product standards, bans, obligations and sanctions that the EU has put in place in recent years.

MEPs endorsed the Commission’s proposal while amending it to further simplify procedures, clarify data processing and accessibility, create a platform for whistleblowers, make the new EU DataHub available earlier, facilitate trade and lessen the burden, especially for SMEs.

New approach to e-commerce and ordering goods from outside the EU

Right now, 65% of e-commerce shipments are deliberately undervalued, which leads to significant revenue loss. Also, up to 66% of products purchased online do not meet EU safety standards. The new regulation would oblige large platforms to submit information about goods to be shipped to the EU within one day of them being purchased. That should give customs authorities a better overview of incoming…