Economic operators and other parties are identified by their EORI (Economic Operator Registration and Identification) numbers in all interactions with EU customs authorities. The identity aims to make economic operators’ administrative chores simpler. All business entities that traverse European borders to carry goods are uniquely identified by the code. Transport within Europe is included in crossing borders, as are import and export operations. The following article contains all the details you require to apply for it in Belgium.
EORI number in Belgium
The European Union’s Economic Operators Registration and Identification System included the introduction of EORI codes. Since that time, any commercial operator who submits customs declarations regularly needs a code that the customs authorities may use to easily identify him. However, just one number is required for each business or individual. The EU can then utilize it in instances like transports from Belgium to France, or exports and imports from Belgium to America, the identity can be used throughout the European Union even though it is always nation-specific and can be allocated to the country in which it was applied for and therefore in which the economic operator is based.
Who needs it
Every commercial operator in Belgium who routinely transships goods across borders and submits customs declarations is required to have it, just like in every other nation in the European Union. Companies, private citizens, online retailers, and carriers are all included in this. Each economic operator, however, only need a single code, which is then utilized across the EU. Like how a French economic operator with a French EORI code can import goods into France, a Belgian economic operator with a Belgian EORI number can use it to conduct cross-border activities, for instance in France. Branches and unauthorized border crossings are the sole exceptions. Dependents of international corporations are exempt from having to get an EORI number on their own. Only the headquarters number, which is occasionally expanded to include the branch’s identification, may be used by them. Additionally, only those businesses that submit more than nine customs declarations annually are required to get the code. The number is not utilized for cross-border transfers below this threshold.
Application for an EORI number in Belgium
Before applying, businesses or individuals with a legal presence in Belgium must confirm that they have not already been issued an EORI number. They must use the EORI database to do this and enter their enterprise number with the prefix “BE” before it. The presence of an existing EORI code will be indicated by a message at that point. If not, businesses and merchants must submit an EORI code application through the Kingdom of Belgium’s Ministry of Finance website. There are application forms there as well as further details about the Belgian EORI system. The website and the applications, however, are only available in the native tongue, as is the case in many European nations.
Belgian EORI number structure
Depending on the EU country, the code is made up of a letter code and a nine- to fifteen-digit numerical combination. The letter code is the same as Belgium’s ISO code, which identifies Belgium as the nation it was requested. This is BE for Belgium. The 10-digit number combination corresponds to the CBE number in Belgium and is free of spaces and commas. This number, which was made available in Belgium in 2003, is used to identify every businessperson there. When a business is first established, it also receives its CBE number. The CBE number consists of a 0 and the business’s Belgian VAT identification number, assuming one already exists.
