SellerSays

Do you need an EORI number?

An EORI number is the customs ID for businesses moving goods across EU or UK borders. You need one when you act in customs processes: EU-established businesses always need an EU EORI; non-EU businesses need one only when they lodge declarations or perform specific customs functions themselves. UK: businesses moving goods into or out of Great Britain apply on GOV.UK for a GB-prefixed EORI (free, issued immediately or within about 5 working days). The two systems don't cross-honor: GOV.UK states plainly that a GB EORI won't serve for EU declarations — you need an EU-country EORI (or an XI number with Northern Ireland establishment) to declare in the EU. Many small parcel sellers never need their own: on low-value EU consignments (≤€150, the H7 declaration), the postal operator, express carrier, or customs agent typically declares as your representative.

The practical test: who lodges the declaration?

Trace one of your parcels: if a carrier or postal operator files the customs declaration (the normal case for DDP parcel flows, IOSS shipments, and marketplace logistics), the declarant's registration does the work and your name rides along. The moment YOU become the declarant or importer of record — bulk inventory into an EU warehouse, FBA Europe, your own DDP arrangement where you're the importer — an EORI in the right jurisdiction becomes step zero, before the VAT and EPR registrations this site covers separately.

Selling into both the UK and EU as a third-country seller therefore can mean two registrations (GB EORI + an EU member-state EORI), each free but each tied to where you actually clear goods. Register in the member state where you first lodge declarations; the number is valid across the EU.

Common questions

Does IOSS registration replace an EORI?
No — IOSS is a VAT scheme, EORI is a customs identifier. Low-value IOSS parcels are usually declared by the carrier (their registration), which is why many IOSS sellers never touch an EORI until they import bulk stock.
Is there a cost?
No fee in the UK (GOV.UK application) and EU registrations are issued by national customs authorities; beware third-party sites charging for what the authorities issue free.

Official sources behind these numbers

  • Any economic operator established in the EU customs territory needs an EORI number; other persons need one where required by national or EU legislation or when performing activities for which an EORI must be provided. European Commission DG TAXUD · verified 2026-07-22
  • A business NOT established in the EU needs an EU EORI number when it performs specific customs activities: lodging customs declarations, entry/exit summary declarations, temporary storage declarations, or acting as a carrier. European Commission DG TAXUD · verified 2026-07-22
  • EU-based operators register for EORI with the national customs authority of the country where they are established; non-EU operators register in the EU country where they carry out their first customs operation (or, with multiple establishments, any EU country where they maintain a permanent business establishment). European Commission DG TAXUD · verified 2026-07-22
  • An EU EORI number is the 2-letter country code of the issuing EU country followed by an identifier unique in that country of up to 15 alphanumeric characters; it has no expiry date and can be invalidated on request or business closure (records kept 10 years after). European Commission DG TAXUD · verified 2026-07-22
  • You may need an EORI number if you move goods between Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) or the Isle of Man and any other country (including the EU), between GB and Northern Ireland, or between GB and the Channel Islands; you need it to make customs declarations and to use customs systems such as the Customs Declaration Service and Import Control System 2. GOV.UK (HMRC) · verified 2026-07-22
  • Businesses moving goods to/from Great Britain apply on GOV.UK for an EORI number that starts with GB, using Government Gateway sign-in; 'You'll get your GB EORI number immediately unless HMRC needs to make any checks on your application. If they do, it can take up to 5 working days.' GOV.UK (HMRC) · verified 2026-07-22
  • An EORI number starting with XI is needed to move goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain or from Northern Ireland to a non-EU country, or to make declarations / get customs decisions in Northern Ireland — unless you already have an EU EORI number; you must get a GB EORI first, and the XI number arrives within 5 days. GOV.UK (HMRC) · verified 2026-07-22
  • GOV.UK: 'To make a declaration or get a customs decision in the EU you will need either: an EORI number from an EU country' or 'an EORI number beginning with XI and a permanent business establishment in Northern Ireland' — i.e. a GB EORI alone is not valid for EU declarations, so a business making customs declarations in both GB and the EU needs both a GB EORI and an EU (or qualifying XI) EORI. GOV.UK (HMRC) · verified 2026-07-22
  • For consignments not exceeding EUR 150 released via the super-reduced dataset (H7) customs declaration, the declaration 'can be lodged by any person fulfilling the conditions in Article 170 UCC': either the importer (consignee) in their own name, or a representative — 'postal operator, express carrier, customs agent or similar' — acting as direct or indirect representative. European Commission DG TAXUD (Guidance on import and export of low value consignments) · verified 2026-07-22 · effective 2021-07-01
  • On the H7 low-value declaration, the Importer ID is the importer's EORI number, but 'Where the importer does not have an EORI number, the customs administration may assign him an ad hoc number for the declaration concerned'; where the importer is a private individual, Member States generally do not require EORI registration and the field may be left blank per national rules. European Commission DG TAXUD · verified 2026-07-22 · effective 2021-07-01

Keep deciding