EORI stands for Economic Operators’ Registration and Identification number. If you plan to import from/export to anywhere in the European Union, you cannot do it without an EORI number. An EORI number is like a social security number for businesses that fall under customs legislation and has been designed to standardise customs processing across the board. It is used by the central customs authorities to monitor and track shipments moving in and out of the EU. From 2021 onwards, the United Kingdom got its own unique EORI number after the country exited the EU.
The EORI number your company uses will have two parts:
- Country code of the issuing Member state; for example, DE for Germany
- Your company’s unique ID Number
You need an EORI number if you’re looking to import/export to and from the European Union.