In general, all economic operators in the European Union (EU) receive an individual registration and identification number—the EORI number—from their respective member state that is valid throughout the EU. EORI stands for “Economic Operators’ Registration and Identification.”

You need an EORI number to participate in ATLAS (“Automated Tariff and Local Customs Clearance System”). The ATLAS system is used to process and monitor cross-border goods traffic to the greatest extent possible.

Economic operators are persons who engage in activities subject to customs regulations as part of their business operations. These can be both natural and legal persons, for example:

• corporations
• associations of persons with legal capacity, such as civil law partnerships (GbR), or
• sole proprietorships and self-employed individuals

A business unit without legal personality, such as a branch office, does not receive its own EORI number. Instead, it is registered under the EORI number of its headquarters with its own branch number.

The EORI number consists of up to 17 characters and begins with the two-digit country code of the EU member state that issues the EORI number.

If you do not yet have an EORI number and are based in Germany, you can apply for one at the General Customs Directorate.

German Customs transmits the master data you have provided for your EORI number to the European Commission’s EORI database. You can access and verify your EORI number online via the EU database.  

As a private individual, you generally do not need an EORI number if you file fewer than 10 customs declarations per year. However, you must have an EORI number to be able to declare an export subject to authorization with the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control.

If you are from a third country, you generally do not need an EORI number, as you do not file regular customs declarations in the EU. Similarly, you generally cannot act as the exporting or declaring company at EU customs offices when exporting products from the EU. To do so, you must be established in the EU. The customs office handling the clearance may, at its discretion, allow up to 9 customs declarations from third countries per year in cases of economic insignificance. This may be the case when business travelers bring goods with them or when trade show exhibitors from third countries wish to distribute goods to visitors.