In Brussels, the European Commission unveiled the EU's customs reform. "This is the most ambitious and comprehensive reform we are proposing since the beginning of the Customs Union in 1968," said Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni. The new EU customs authority will preside over the European digital customs hub that will serve as the engine of the new system. "The hub will replace the 111 national IT systems currently in use," Gentiloni said, "which will save member states up to 2 billion euros a year in operational costs". According to the Commission's proposal, the data hub will be launched for e-commerce in 2028, followed by other importers in 2032 on a voluntary basis. Starting in 2038, the hub will be mandatory for all importers. The European digital customs hub will collect data provided by businesses and, through machine learning, artificial intelligence and human intervention, provide authorities with a 360-degree view of supply chains and the movement of goods. At the same time, businesses will have to interact with a single portal for customs information submission and will only have to enter data once for multiple shipments. Where operational processes and supply chains are transparent, the most trusted traders ("Trust and Check" operators) will be able to put their goods into circulation in the EU without any active customs intervention.
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