EORI numbers, HS codes, import VAT and the difference between clearance and duty — the essentials of moving goods across the EU border, in plain terms.
Customs clearance has a reputation for being impenetrable, and the acronyms don't help. But the underlying idea is simple: when goods cross a border, a government wants to know what they are, where they're from, what they're worth, and what tax is due. Everything else is paperwork built around those four questions. Here's the EU version, in plain terms.
First, you need an EORI number
Any business importing into or exporting out of the EU needs an EORI — an Economic Operator Registration and Identification number. It's a one-time registration with your national customs authority that identifies you on every declaration. No EORI, no clearance, so it's the first box to tick before goods ever move.
The HS code decides everything downstream
Every product is classified under a Harmonized System code — a standardized number that says what the goods are. That code determines the duty rate, whether any restrictions or licences apply, and what documentation customs will expect. Getting it wrong means paying the wrong duty or facing a hold, so classification is worth doing carefully rather than guessing.
Clearance is not the same as duty
Two separate things happen at the border. Clearance is the act of declaring the goods and getting customs' permission to release them. Duty and import VAT are the taxes that may be due as part of that. A shipment can clear quickly and still carry a significant tax bill, or clear slowly with nothing to pay — the two are related but not the same, and it helps to think of them separately.
Import VAT and how it flows
On top of any customs duty, most goods entering the EU attract import VAT at the destination country's rate. The important nuance for businesses is that import VAT is usually recoverable — a VAT-registered importer generally reclaims it, so it's a cash-flow timing cost rather than a permanent one. Duty, by contrast, is a real cost that stays with the goods.
The single market advantage
Once goods are in free circulation inside the EU, they move between member states without further customs formalities. That's the whole point of the single market: clear once, then ship freely across 27 countries. It's why where you clear can matter as much as what you're clearing — and why a good broker thinks about the whole route, not just the first border.
When to hand it to a broker
For a one-off, low-value shipment the formalities are manageable. But as soon as classifications get ambiguous, licences enter the picture, or volume ramps up, a licensed customs broker earns their fee many times over by getting it right the first time. The cost of a broker is almost always smaller than the cost of a delayed or misdeclared shipment.
