EORI number

What it means

EORI is a single economic operator number valid across the EU. Customs use it to identify the importer or exporter in every member state, not only the country of registration.

It is assigned on request and tied to the company’s ID number. It has nothing to do with the VAT number: even a non-VAT payer needs one to import or export in its own name.

EORI is not a permit or licence to trade with non-EU countries; it is only an identifier. It says nothing about whether goods may be imported or what customs duty they bear - that depends on the classification and origin of the goods. A company trading only within the EU does not need one, because supplies between member states involve no customs procedure.

How it works in practice

Without EORI no declaration can be filed, so the consignment sits at customs while storage charges run. Obtain it before the first import, not on the day the goods land.

Even where a customs agent acts, it acts under the importer’s EORI. The number therefore belongs in the agency contract and in the shipping instructions to the supplier.

With parcels from non-EU countries sent by courier, EORI is often forgotten because the courier handles clearance. Yet the courier also acts as a customs representative in the company’s name and under its number. We match customs declarations against the books and check on every import that the EORI and company name are right, since the declaration supports the tax deduction.

What to watch out for

Branches of foreign companies often use the parent’s EORI although the branch is the importer, or the other way round. A wrong number on the declaration jeopardises the import VAT deduction.

A change of name or registered office, or the company ceasing to exist, has to be reflected in the EORI data too. When a company is absorbed in a merger and the successor keeps importing under the old number, the customs documents name an entity that no longer exists, and the successor struggles to show that the imports and the tax on them are its own.