An EORI number, short for Economic Operators Registration and Identification number, is the unique ID that customs authorities use to track any business or person moving commercial goods into or out of the European Union or the United Kingdom. You need one before you can file a customs declaration. It is free to obtain, and once issued it stays valid indefinitely unless your business ceases or the registration is revoked.
Who Needs One
Anyone making a customs declaration needs an EORI number. That covers importers, exporters, and businesses involved in transit shipments, from a solo trader shipping a few pallets to a multinational freight operation. The requirement attaches to the activity, not the size of the business.1European Commission. Economic Operators Registration and Identification Number (EORI)
Businesses based outside the EU or UK still need one if they plan to lodge customs declarations, file entry or exit summary declarations, or apply for temporary admission.2GOV.UK. Get an EORI Number – Who Needs an EORI You do not have to be VAT-registered to apply, though if you are VAT-registered in the UK, your VAT number is built into your EORI number.3GOV.UK. Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) – Introduction
Individuals moving goods purely for personal use are generally exempt, provided the items are not controlled or otherwise prohibited.4GOV.UK. Who Should Register for an EORI Number Without a valid number, goods will not clear customs. That means delays, storage charges, and in the worst case a shipment returned to its origin.
Why Many Businesses Now Need Two Numbers
Since the UK left the EU customs union, the UK and EU systems are separate. A GB-prefixed number works for UK customs but is not recognized by EU customs, and an EU-issued number does not work for UK entries. If you ship goods between the UK and the EU, you need an EORI number from each side. Plenty of businesses have been caught out assuming their pre-Brexit number would keep working across both.
For the UK side, you apply through HMRC. For the EU side, you apply through the customs authority of the member state where you first trade or where your business is established. UK-based businesses importing into the EU will usually need to work through a customs intermediary in the destination country, because they are non-resident for EU customs purposes.
Northern Ireland and the XI Prefix
Northern Ireland has its own arrangement under the Windsor Framework. If you move goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain, ship from Northern Ireland to non-EU countries, or make customs declarations in Northern Ireland, you generally need an EORI number starting with the “XI” prefix in addition to your GB number.5GOV.UK. Get an EORI Number – If You Move Goods to or From Northern Ireland
You do not need an XI number if you already hold an EU EORI, if you only move goods on the island of Ireland or between Northern Ireland and an EU country, or if your business is established in an EU country but not in Northern Ireland. Only persons or organizations based in Northern Ireland or the EU can be named as the declarant on import and export declarations made there.5GOV.UK. Get an EORI Number – If You Move Goods to or From Northern Ireland
Where to Apply
If your business is established in the EU, apply to the customs authority of the member state where you are based. That single number then works across all 27 member states.
If your business has no establishment inside the EU, apply to the customs authority of the member state where you plan to carry out your first customs operation, whether that is lodging a declaration or applying for a customs decision.1European Commission. Economic Operators Registration and Identification Number (EORI) In practice, many non-EU businesses appoint a customs representative or freight forwarder in the first country of entry, and that representative can obtain the number on the company’s behalf.2GOV.UK. Get an EORI Number – Who Needs an EORI
For a UK GB or XI number, you apply through the Government Gateway portal on GOV.UK. EU member states each run their own electronic customs portals, and some accept applications by email. Paper applications have been phased out in most jurisdictions.
What You Need to Provide
The application asks for standard business details, but the data must exactly match what other government agencies already hold. Mismatches between your customs application and your tax records are the fastest way to trigger a manual review or a rejection. You will typically need:
- Your legal business name as it appears in your incorporation or registration documents
- Your registered business address, including postcode
- Your VAT number, if you are VAT-registered (in the UK, this forms the core of your EORI number)
- A phone number and email address for customs correspondence
- A description of the types of goods you trade and the customs operations you carry out
Some member states also ask for a certificate of incorporation or proof of address.
Getting the details right matters. In the UK, providing inaccurate data on a customs filing can trigger civil penalties starting at £250 for a first contravention and rising through £500 and £1,000, up to a maximum of £2,500 per contravention for serious irregularities. Where undeclared duty or import VAT exceeds £50,000, HMRC may jump ahead in the penalty scale.6GOV.UK. Civil Penalties for Contraventions of Customs Law (Customs Notice 301)
How Long It Takes
Processing times depend on the issuing authority:
- A UK GB number is often issued immediately after you submit, though HMRC may take up to five working days if additional checks are needed.7GOV.UK. Get an EORI Number – Apply for an EORI Number
- A UK XI number is issued within five working days.7GOV.UK. Get an EORI Number – Apply for an EORI Number
- EU member states range from a day or two to a few weeks, particularly if they request further documentation.
After you submit, you should get an email confirmation with a tracking reference. Do not put the number on a customs declaration until you receive the final activation notice; a pending number will cause the declaration to be rejected and your goods will sit at the border racking up storage fees while you sort it out. If the customs office finds discrepancies, they will send a request for clarification, which can add another week or more. The usual culprits are mismatches with tax records, spaces or lowercase characters in reference numbers, and confusion about whether to include the country prefix in certain fields.
What the Number Looks Like
Every EORI number starts with a two-letter country code followed by digits. The format varies by issuer:
- A UK number (GB or XI prefix) has 14 characters total. A GB number looks like GB123456789000. If you are VAT-registered in the UK, the first nine digits after “GB” are your VAT number, typically followed by “000.”3GOV.UK. Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) – Introduction
- Numbers issued by EU member states run between 3 and 17 characters, starting with the country code (FR for France, DE for Germany, and so on) followed by digits assigned by that country’s customs authority.
Enter the number in uppercase and with no spaces. Many customs systems do not strip formatting before validation, so a stray space or lowercase letter is a common cause of rejected declarations.
How to Verify a Number
Before shipping, freight forwarders and trading partners routinely check whether an EORI number is active. The European Commission runs a free public validation tool where you enter any EORI number and get an immediate response.8European Commission. EORI Number Validation A successful query returns the number’s status and usually the registered name and address of the holder.1European Commission. Economic Operators Registration and Identification Number (EORI)
Some holders opt out of public disclosure when they register, in which case the tool confirms the number exists but withholds the name and address. If a number comes back invalid or deactivated, contact the issuing customs authority before shipping. Sending goods against an invalid number is one of the most reliable ways to get cargo held at the border.
Keeping the Registration Current
An EORI number does not expire. It stays valid for as long as your business operates.1European Commission. Economic Operators Registration and Identification Number (EORI) You are responsible for telling customs when your details change. If your company name, registered address, or contact information changes, the update needs to reach the authority that issued your number.
In the UK, the process depends on your VAT status. VAT-registered businesses update their details through their VAT online account and HMRC carries the change through to the EORI record. Non-VAT-registered businesses fill in a change-of-circumstance form specific to their EORI prefix.9GOV.UK. Get an EORI Number – Report a Change or Cancel an EORI Number If your business stops trading, you can ask for the number to be invalidated.
One Number per Customs Territory
Each business or person can hold only one valid EORI number at a time within a given customs territory.1European Commission. Economic Operators Registration and Identification Number (EORI) A single EU number covers all 27 member states, so you cannot register separately in France and Germany and end up with two EU numbers. If a customs authority spots a duplicate, they will consolidate the records, which can delay shipments in the meantime.
The rule applies inside each customs territory separately. A UK company can hold a GB number and an EU number at the same time, because those are different customs territories, and could also hold an XI number for Northern Ireland operations. What you cannot do is hold two numbers within the same system.
EORI Is Not IOSS
Online sellers shipping low-value goods to EU consumers sometimes mix up the EORI number with the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) number. They do different jobs. An EORI number identifies you to customs for all types of import and export operations. An IOSS number is a VAT mechanism that lets e-commerce businesses collect, declare, and pay VAT on cross-border sales of goods valued up to €150 through a single return, instead of registering for VAT in every EU country where they have customers.
If you sell to consumers and use IOSS, you still need an EORI number for business-to-business imports or any standard customs declaration. The IOSS number goes on the customs data for qualifying consumer shipments; the EORI number is what customs uses to identify you as a trader. Treating one as a substitute for the other will get declarations rejected and shipments delayed.