Standards
Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI)
An EU customs identifier for economic operators and, where relevant, other persons.
- Kind
- Identifiers
- Steward
- European Commission and EU member-state customs authorities
What it describes
An EORI number identifies an economic operator for customs interactions in the European Union. Member-state customs authorities assign the number under EU rules, and it is used across customs systems. It helps connect declarations and authorizations to the operator involved. The issuing country prefix is part of the number's format, but the record must still identify the relevant legal person and customs role.
EORI is not a VAT number, an import licence, or proof that a shipment met customs requirements. Validation and published details depend on the authority and the information available. An entity can have multiple roles in a movement of goods, so the EORI should be kept with the declaration context and observation date rather than substituted for an entire transaction record.
Structure
Member-state country code followed by a nationally assigned identifier.
Useful for
- Link EU customs declarations to an operator.
- Reconcile cross-border operator records.
- Validate the customs identifier used in a filing.
Limits
- Not interchangeable with VAT registration.
- Does not confer an import authorization.
- National suffix rules differ.
How it is used in practice
An economic operator established in the European Union needs an EORI number to make customs declarations, and many operators outside the Union need one to lodge declarations or entry and exit summary declarations within it. Customs systems use the number to link declarations, authorizations and guarantees to the operator, and the Commission provides an online service that checks whether a number is valid in the Union's systems.
For researchers the EORI is a useful anchor in trade data. A shipment record that carries the importer's EORI can be tied to other declarations by the same operator, and a company's customs authorizations can be traced through it. The number appears in declarations, in authorized-operator listings and in some commercial documents.
A worked example
A fictional exporter, Halden Laboratory Services GmbH, ships instruments to a customer outside the Union. The export declaration names the exporter's EORI. A due-diligence team wants to confirm that the exporter is a customs-registered operator on the declaration date.
The team submits the number to the Commission's validation service and records the result, the time of the query and the name and address returned if the member state provides them. The result supports a bounded statement: the number was recorded as valid in the Union system on the query date. The team does not extend that into a statement about the declaration date unless a historical source covers it, and it does not treat the EORI as evidence of an export licence. If the same company's VAT number is also in the file, the two are stored separately, because one is a customs identifier and the other a tax registration.
Evaluating a claim that rests on an EORI
Read the claim for what it asserts about the operator. An EORI can support a claim of customs registration at a date. It cannot support a claim of authorized-economic-operator status, a claim of compliance, or a claim that a given shipment was lawful. Those claims depend on separate authorizations and on the facts of the movement.
Pay attention to validity over time and across roles. Numbers can be deactivated, and an operator may appear as declarant, importer, exporter or representative in the same declaration, with different numbers in different boxes. A record should state the role of the EORI in the document where it was found, along with the member state of issue indicated by its prefix, and keep the validation response as an observation with its date.
Confusions to avoid
EORI is not a VAT number, although some member states build one from the other. It is not an LEI, which identifies a legal entity for financial reporting. It is not an excise number or a licence number, which identify permissions for particular regimes. The same company will often hold several of these, and the links among them are claims to be sourced.
It is also easy to over-read the country prefix. The prefix shows which member state's customs authority issued the number, not where the goods came from or where the operator is headquartered. Treat it as the issuer's identity, and use declared addresses and registry data for location.
Questions a reviewer can ask
Which role does the EORI play in the declaration: declarant, importer, exporter or representative? Which authority issued it, as indicated by the prefix? Was it validated, on what date, and what name and address were returned? Does the claim concern customs registration, authorized status or lawful movement of goods, and is each supported by its own source? Are older validation results kept so that status at the declaration date can be shown?
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Enquiry
Which of your sources carry Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI)?
Tell us which sources carry it, which key the same entity some other way and who may read which. We reply with whether and how a first record would use this identifier.
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