What it is
The EORI — “Economic Operators Registration and Identification” — is the number customs authorities across the European Union use to identify an operator. It is unique, it works in all twenty-seven Member States and it is required on any declaration: export, import, transit or warehousing.
It is built from the country prefix followed by the identifier your Member State uses for the company. In other words, in most countries you already know what your number will be before it is active. What has to be done is to activate it, not invent it.
It is needed by anyone filing a customs declaration before a European customs office, whether directly or through a representative. If you export through a customs broker, the EORI shown as exporter is still yours.
How it is obtained
- Check whether you already have oneMany companies have had one active since an old transaction without knowing. The European Commission publishes an online validator: you enter the number and it says whether it is registered.
- Apply to your national customs authorityEach Member State has its own channel — an electronic portal, usually with an electronic certificate or national eID. Registration is online and free of charge.
- Check the activationGo back to the Commission’s validator a few hours later. Until it shows up there, your customs broker cannot declare on your behalf.
- Give it to your freight forwarderIt goes on the shipping instructions and on the commercial invoice. It is the detail that identifies your company throughout the whole transaction.
Which number is for what
| Number | What for | Where it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| EORI | Identifying you before any customs office in the Union | The European Commission’s EORI validator |
| VAT number | Invoicing without VAT to businesses in another Member State | The VIES register |
| REX | Issuing statements on preferential origin above the threshold | The Commission’s REX database |
| National tax ID | General tax identification in your country | Your tax authority |
The usual stumbles
- Giving your tax ID believing it is the EORIThe EORI carries the country prefix and has to be activated. An unactivated number does not exist for customs and the declaration is rejected.
- Applying on the day of shipmentActivation can take hours and has to be visible in the validator. Without it, clearance does not go through and the truck waits.
- Using the parent company’s EORI for a subsidiaryIt is per legal entity. Every company with its own registration needs its own.
- Confusing it with the VAT number when invoicingThey are different registers. Invoicing without VAT to a European customer requires checking their VAT number in VIES, not their EORI.