On November 1, 2026, the European Union will stop accepting customs declarations that are missing product identifier data. If any of your customers sell direct to consumers in the EU27, this information is for you.
The EU added the PID rule so it can trace products back to their source. The European Commission reports that low-value shipments into the EU reached close to 5.9 billion items by the end of 2025. That is up from about 4.6 billion at the end of 2024. Its work on e-commerce product compliance and safety found that more than 60% of the products it checked failed EU standards. Those checks covered toys, electronics, cosmetics, protective equipment, and supplements. Product identifiers let customs find one unsafe item and then pull up every other shipment with the same code.
Below is what changed in EU shipping compliance, who it applies to, and what to do before the deadline of November 1.
A product identifier (PID) is a customs data code. It tells EU authorities three things about an item in a parcel: who sold it, who made it, and whether the item has a standard retail barcode. The codes come from Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1022 of 30 June 2026, which updates the Union Customs Code Delegated Act. They must appear on customs declarations for goods sold to EU consumers from outside the EU.
A PID is not the same as an HS code. An HS code says what kind of product is crossing the border, such as a leather shoe or a ceramic mug. A PID says which exact product it is, down to the SKU, the supplier who made it, and the barcode on the box.
There are three codes:
| Identifier | Plain English | Who assigns it | TARIC code | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M-PID | Merchant product identifier, usually the seller's SKU or marketplace listing ID | The seller or the platform | C127 | Mandatory |
| NS-PID | Non-standardized manufacturer identifier, the factory's own part number | The producer or supplier | C128 | Mandatory |
| S-PID | Standardized manufacturer identifier, a retail barcode such as a GTIN, EAN, UPC, ISBN, or IMEI | The producer or supplier, using a standards body's scheme such as GS1 | C129 | Required where one exists |
All three go in the supporting document field on H1, H6, and H7 declarations. Some products have no standard barcode. In that case you must still say so, using exception code Y081. If you leave the field blank, customs treats the declaration as incomplete and will most likely reject it.
A pair of running shoes. This product has all three codes, so the declaration carries all three.
A custom mug with a printed logo. Promotional and custom items rarely have a retail barcode. That is allowed, as long as you declare it.
The EU does not make anyone create a barcode that does not exist. Work through it in this order:
Leaving the field blank is not the same as declaring the exception. Customs reads a blank field as missing data, not as "no barcode exists."
Use the exception only when it is true. Every Y081 is a formal statement that the product has no standard barcode, and customs authorities can search for every declaration that used it.
Yes, if your customer sells the goods direct to a consumer in the EU and ships them in from outside the EU, this will affect them. The price of the order does not matter. In addition, here are three special cases to be aware of:
Every EU parcel needs all three codes on the declaration. Confirm each one is in your item master and reaching whoever files your customs entries, whether that is your carrier or your broker.
If any of the three is missing on November 1, the declaration is incomplete. Customs will likely reject it and hold the parcel.
One thing to note on the timeline: for most 3PLs, the challenging part of this compliance won't be configuration, it will be collecting product data from suppliers and manufacturers. The factory part number is sourced from the supplier's records, so send your requests now so you aren't still waiting on data after November 1.
If this affects your operation, our help center has the current guidance on how Extensiv will be updating Small Parcel Suite to offer the data fields you need to have updated.