Customs Compliance Pro Issue 04 · 5–11 October 2026

Customs & Trade Compliance Weekly

This week’s highlights

Union Handling Fee formally adopted by the Commission — but 1 November still isn’t locked in

The European Commission has moved from draft to formal adoption of the delegated regulation setting the e-commerce Union Handling Fee (UHF) at €2 per item, with CLECAT dating the Commission’s announcement to around 2 October 2026. But the regulation remains subject to a scrutiny period for the European Parliament and Council; if neither objects, it enters into force on Official Journal publication and applies ten days later. Trade compliance firm UKP Worldwide explicitly warned clients on 5 October not to treat 1 November as a confirmed start date until that process completes. Source: UKP Worldwide, 5 Oct 2026 (citing CLECAT, 2 Oct 2026)
US CBP launches CAPE Phase 3 for IEEPA tariff refunds

CBP officially launched Phase 3 of its Cargo Acceptance Processing Environment (CAPE) in the early hours of 6 October 2026, opening refund filing to Court of International Trade plaintiffs who had submitted a valid importer-of-record number by 30 July. By midday on launch day, 477 declarations had cleared initial validation, covering 425,517 eligible entries; across all of CAPE, roughly 297,887 declarations had been submitted and about $136.6 billion in refunds accepted or certified, against roughly 6.2 million entries that failed entry-level validation. Source: Sobel Network Shipping Co., 7 Oct 2026
CBP proposes sweeping overhaul of low-value and informal entry

U.S. Customs and Border Protection filed a proposed rule (docket USCBP-2026-0298, RIN 1685-AA38) scheduled for Federal Register publication on 8 October 2026, responding to the growth in informal entries since de minimis duty-free treatment was suspended in August 2025. It would require Type 11 informal entries ($2,500 or less) to be filed electronically on or before importation rather than within 15 days of arrival, remove the $250 cap that currently blocks informal entry for goods carrying Section 232 and other Chapter 99 measures, require a licensed customs broker as importer of record where the consignee isn’t the owner or purchaser, replace postal informal entry with a new Entry Type 13 requiring shipper and tracking-number data, and give CBP broader discretion to force formal entry on a blanket basis by importer, manufacturer or product category. CBP estimates the rule’s net cost at roughly $9.3 billion over 2026–2035. Source: Federal Register (U.S. Customs and Border Protection), scheduled for publication 8 Oct 2026
HMRC schedules CDS Release 5.3.0.1 for 22 October, adding steel “melt and pour” codes

The British International Freight Association notified members on 8 October 2026 of HMRC’s upcoming Customs Declaration Service update, version 5.3.0.1, due to go live 22 October without a system outage. The release adds Melt and Pour Steel Document codes (tied to the EU/UK steel-origin evidence rules that took effect 1 October), new Additional Information codes distinguishing Northern Ireland from Great Britain movements, TOR01 code validation, and new Measurement Unit codes. Traders pre-lodging declarations due to arrive on or after 22 October are advised to follow HMRC’s published guidance to avoid rejections. Source: British International Freight Association (BIFA), 8 Oct 2026
Trade press turns to the VAT mechanics of the new handling fee

VATupdate published an analysis on 8 October 2026 arguing that the proposed €2 Union Handling Fee will form part of the VAT taxable amount wherever it applies — under the Import One-Stop Shop as an “incidental expense” tied to the distance sale, and outside IOSS as part of the import VAT base, mirroring existing treatment of customs duties. It also flags that the fee is expected to be non-refundable once a customs declaration is accepted, even where the underlying goods are later returned. Source: VATupdate, 8 Oct 2026
EU’s Q3 2026 CBAM certificate price jumps to €82.32, the year’s highest

The European Commission published the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism certificate price for the third quarter of 2026 on 5 October 2026 at €82.32 per tonne of CO2 equivalent — the highest level recorded so far this year and six to eight euros above analysts’ mid-quarter tracking estimate. CBAM certificates are surrendered through the same import/customs declaration channel as ordinary duties, making the price a recurring line item for compliance teams handling in-scope goods (iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen and electricity). Source: GMK Center / CBAMguide.com, 5 Oct 2026
Industry gathers in Washington for CBP enforcement forum

ACI’s 15th Advanced Forum on U.S. Customs Compliance & Enforcement convened in Washington, D.C. from 7–9 October 2026 (with a livestream option), with sessions on Section 232/301 investigations, audit readiness and supply-chain risk against a backdrop of tariff volatility and tighter DOJ scrutiny. CBP’s Executive Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Trade, Susan S. Thomas, delivered a keynote on the agency’s current compliance priorities. Source: ACI / NCBFAA event listing, 7–9 Oct 2026

EU institutions — Council, Parliament & Commission

The main official development this week was procedural rather than legislative: the Commission’s delegated regulation setting the Union Handling Fee at €2 per item has moved from draft (reported in last issue as a 21 September text) to formal adoption, which CLECAT’s newsletter dated to around 2 October 2026. UKP Worldwide’s 5 October client note was explicit that the act “remains subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council,” that it only enters into force once published in the Official Journal (with no publication date yet confirmed), and that businesses should not treat 1 November as a settled date (Source: UKP Worldwide, 5 Oct 2026).

Separately, the Commission published the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism certificate price for Q3 2026 on 5 October 2026, at €82.32 per tonne of CO2 equivalent — the first material rise of what analysts call CBAM’s “definitive phase” and the highest quarterly price so far this year (Source: GMK Center, 5 Oct 2026; CBAMguide.com, 5 Oct 2026). CBAM sits adjacent to core customs policy rather than inside the Union Customs Code reform, but the certificate price is surrendered through the same customs declaration channel and is tracked by the same compliance teams, which is why it is noted here.

National customs administrations

United Kingdom — HMRC

HMRC notified trade via BIFA on 8 October 2026 that Customs Declaration Service Release 5.3.0.1 will go live 22 October 2026, without a system outage. It adds Melt and Pour Steel Document codes — linked to the EU and UK’s new steel country-of-origin evidence requirements that took effect 1 October 2026 — plus Additional Information codes separating Northern Ireland from Great Britain movements, TOR01 code validation, and new Measurement Unit codes. Traders with declarations pre-lodged for arrival on or after 22 October are told to follow HMRC’s published trader guidance to avoid rejections (Source: BIFA, 8 Oct 2026).

United States — CBP

CBP’s CAPE platform officially launched Phase 3 of IEEPA tariff refund processing in the early hours of 6 October 2026, opening the door for Court of International Trade plaintiffs who had supplied a valid importer-of-record number by 30 July 2026. By midday on launch day, 477 declarations covering 425,517 eligible entries had cleared initial validation. Across the whole CAPE programme as of early October, roughly 297,887 declarations had been submitted and 209,262 had cleared validation, covering about 27.4 million entries and some $136.6 billion in potential and certified refunds; around 6.2 million entries had failed entry-level validation (Source: Sobel Network Shipping Co., 7 Oct 2026).

Separately, CBP filed a proposed rule (docket USCBP-2026-0298, RIN 1685-AA38) scheduled for Federal Register publication on 8 October 2026 that would substantially rework low-value and informal entry. Responding to the growth in informal entries since de minimis duty-free treatment was suspended in August 2025, it would require Type 11 informal entries ($2,500 or less) to be filed electronically on or before importation rather than within 15 days of arrival; remove the $250 cap that currently blocks informal entry for goods carrying Section 232 and other Chapter 99 measures, so shipments valued $251–$2,500 could qualify; require a licensed customs broker as importer of record where the consignee is not the owner or purchaser; replace postal informal entry with a new Entry Type 13 requiring shipper and tracking-number data, with carriers providing tracking numbers on inward manifests; require a basic importation and entry bond for the new entry types, with a $1,000 minimum for liquidated damages on certain bond breaches; and give CBP broader discretion to require formal entry for informal shipments, including on a blanket basis by importer, manufacturer or product category. Mail not properly entered within 15 days would be deemed voluntarily abandoned and handled under USPS procedures, which may include destruction or return to sender. CBP’s own economic analysis puts the rule’s present-value net cost at roughly $9.3 billion over 2026–2035 at a 3% discount rate (about $7.7 billion at 7%), citing higher broker fees, earlier filing deadlines and USPS storage needs among the drivers (Source: Federal Register (U.S. Customs and Border Protection), scheduled for publication 8 Oct 2026).

Trade press & industry commentary

With the handling fee’s legal status now the live question, VATupdate published a detailed VAT analysis on 8 October 2026 concluding the €2 fee will sit inside the VAT taxable amount in most cases: under the Import One-Stop Shop, the Commission’s view treats it as an “incidental expense” of the distance sale to be folded into the IOSS return; outside IOSS, it is expected to follow the existing treatment of customs duties within the import VAT base. The piece also warns that sellers absorbing the fee rather than passing it on should not assume that removes it from the VAT calculation, and that the fee looks to be non-refundable even when goods are returned after the customs declaration is accepted (Source: VATupdate, 8 Oct 2026).

On the industry-events side, ACI’s 15th Advanced Forum on U.S. Customs Compliance & Enforcement ran in Washington, D.C. from 7–9 October 2026, with CBP’s Executive Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Trade, Susan S. Thomas, keynoting on current compliance priorities amid Section 232/301 activity and heightened DOJ scrutiny (Source: ACI / NCBFAA event listing).

Compiled from public sources (official EU and national customs releases, trade press, and industry publications) for general informational purposes; it is not legal advice. Every factual claim above is attributed to a named, dated source. Corrections and tips: reach out via the contact details on customscompliancepro.com.

A public, source-linked briefing on EU customs and trade compliance — published every Monday, covering the preceding week.This issue covers 5–11 October 2026. The week’s main story is the EU’s Union Handling Fee moving from draft to formally adopted — while trade press cautions that 1 November is still not a locked-in start date — alongside a major US customs IT milestone and a UK systems update. Every claim below is attributed to a named, dated source found during this run.How this works: each Monday we round up customs and trade-compliance developments from EU institutions (DG TAXUD, the Council, the European Parliament), national customs administrations, trade press and industry commentary, Vilnius Manifesto signatories, and major outlets (Financial Times, The Guardian, Politico, Reuters, Euractiv). We report only what a dated, named source actually covered that week; categories with nothing to report are simply left out, rather than padded or flagged as empty.010203Customs Compliance Pro · Weekly BriefingNext edition: Monday, 19 October 2026

Weekly update October 12