Customs & EORI
EORI number registration and customs support for importing goods into the EU through Italy: import VAT handling, customs representation, and coordination with freight and logistics partners.
What an EORI Number Is
An EORI number — Economic Operators Registration and Identification — is the identifier customs authorities across the EU use to recognise a business. It is issued once, by the customs authority of a single Member State, and is then valid throughout the Union. In Italy it is assigned by the Agenzia delle dogane e dei monopoli.
A company established outside the EU cannot lodge a customs declaration without one, and the number has to exist before the first import rather than alongside it. A consignment that arrives while the registration is still pending sits in temporary storage, accruing costs, until the declarant has an identifier to use. Registration is the first step of an import project, not a formality to settle afterwards.
Most non-EU importers also need someone to declare on their behalf. Under indirect representation the representative lodges the declaration in its own name but on the importer’s account, and is therefore the declarant — jointly liable for the customs debt and answerable for what the declaration says. That liability is why an indirect representative reviews classification, valuation, and origin before accepting a consignment, and why the underlying data has to be right at the outset.
Where the imported goods are immediately dispatched to another EU Member State rather than sold in Italy, import VAT can often be suspended at the border under Customs Procedure 42 instead of paid and later reclaimed.
Who Needs Customs & EORI Support
- Non-EU companies importing goods into the EU through Italian ports or airports
- EU companies needing an Italian EORI number for import operations
- Sellers shipping to EU consumers with import VAT obligations
- Companies coordinating freight forwarders, customs brokers, and fiscal representation
What We Cover
- EORI registration with the Italian customs authority
- Import VAT handling and recovery (where applicable)
- Indirect customs representation for non-EU importers
- Coordination with freight forwarders and customs brokers
- Advisory on customs valuation, classification, and origin rules
- Integration with OSS/IOSS and fiscal representation as needed
Legal Basis
Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 (the Union Customs Code) requires economic operators to be registered with the customs authorities; operators not established in the customs territory of the Union register with the authorities of the Member State where they first lodge a declaration or apply for a decision.
The identifier assigned by that registration is the EORI number, defined in Article 1, point (18), of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, and Article 5 of the same Regulation lists when a non-established operator must obtain it — before lodging a customs declaration, an entry or exit summary declaration or a temporary storage declaration, among other cases.
In Italy the EORI number is assigned by the Agenzia delle dogane e dei monopoli, and it can be requested at any of its customs offices.
Why Choose Us
Customs and VAT are tightly coupled at import — we coordinate both from one operational platform, so your import VAT, EORI position, and fiscal representation work together instead of being handled by separate intermediaries.