The new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, moves risk management out of the national office and toward three heads: the member state's customs, the EU Customs Authority and the Commission. Avocatnet explained on 18 October what that means for firms: data no longer sit only in the local system, and risk analysis gets a common base.

Articles 55-62, which say who sees what and who orders a check, apply from 21 September 2027. Not tomorrow. Until then states keep their procedures, but they must prepare for a data platform in which risk signals travel between capitals. The Commission covers the Authority's tasks until 30 June 2028, so the new body does not start with empty drawers.

The logic is supervision, not tax advice. A container that enters Rotterdam can be flagged for a check in Constanta on the same profile. The firm does not automatically get a fine. If the profile says so, it gets a more coherent selection. Bad declarations still cost. Clean ones hope not to be pulled three times for the same goods.

The EU Customs Authority does not replace the officer at the border. It feeds that officer. States remain responsible for physical checks and penalties. Brussels supplies the method and the platform. If national data are weak, the platform will amplify the weakness, not cure it. That is why the regulation talks about data quality before it talks about the algorithm.

For importers the calendar is more useful than the title. 2027 is when risk is managed under the new articles. 2028 is how long the Commission stands in for the Authority. Between those dates, forwarders need to know which fields will be mandatory, not wait for a guide in the last week.

This is not customs advice and does not say how to clear a declaration. It says how, on paper, the power to see risk has been split. Application will be measured in checks, not in press notes.

Image: Andrei Stroe, the European Commission, Brussels, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; the Berlaymont, not a 2026 customs office.

Sources consulted: Customs risk management takes on greater weight - Avocatnet; Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 - EUR-Lex.