Since October 2025, Belgium has joined the European Union's CCI system (Centralised Clearance for Imports). In practical terms, this means a company established in Belgium can now file its import declaration from its country of establishment — even when the goods physically enter the EU through Rotterdam, Hamburg, or Le Havre.
Yet, in the files we see every week at CTB Group, the vast majority of Belgian importing SMEs have not activated this option. Why? And more importantly, at what strategic cost?
This article explores what CCI really is, what it changes for SMEs, why so few companies are using it, and how to activate it concretely.
1 — What CCI Actually Is :
CCI — Centralised Clearance for Imports — is a customs simplification provided for under Article 179 of the Union Customs Code (UCC). It allows an authorised operator to file an import declaration at the customs office of its place of establishment, even when the goods are presented to customs at a different office, potentially in another Member State.
Concretely:
- One single point of declaration for the operator, regardless of the physical point of entry.
- Several physical entry points remain possible (Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges, Hamburg, Le Havre, etc.).
- A single compliance logic instead of as many declarations as there are entry ports.
- In October 2025, Belgium officially joined the CCI system, opening this option to Belgian-established companies. The recommended (but not always mandatory) prerequisite is AEO status (Authorised Economic Operator), which guarantees the operator's reliability vis-à-vis customs authorities.
This is a fundamentally different logic from classic indirect customs representation, where each entry port generates its own declaration with its own intermediary.
2 — Three Concrete Benefits for an SME
- Administrative centralisation: For an SME importing through multiple European ports, CCI eliminates the fragmentation of customs processes. A single interlocutor, a single system (the PLDA-to-IDMS transition is ongoing in Belgium until 2028), a single VAT and duty logic. The administrative time saved often
represents 20 to 40% of the time previously spent coordinating multiple brokers. - Visibility over flows: CCI provides a unified dashboard of imports, even when they are spread across three or four European ports. For a growing SME, this visibility is critical for cash flow management, customs forecasting, and audit preparation.
- Strategic anchoring:The EU Customs Reform 2026-2034 — with the future European Customs Authority based in Lille and the progressive Data Hub deployment by 2034 — places centralised orchestration at the heart of the European customs system. Activating CCI today means anticipating this evolution by 3 to 5 years. It also means positioning Belgium as a European customs orchestration hub, an asset that few competitors have yet identified.
3 — Why So Few SMEs Are Using It
- Reason 1 — Information
CCI was adopted in Belgium in October 2025 without any major public information campaign. The FPS Finance (SPF Finances) communicated through technical channels, mostly read by specialised operators. Belgian SMEs simply don't know that CCI exists — and even less so that they are eligible. - Reason 2 — The intermediaries' business model
This is the most uncomfortable reason to acknowledge, but it must be named. A customs broker filing 100 dispersed declarations charges more than one filing a centralised declaration. Customs brokers therefore have no commercial incentive to spontaneously propose CCI to their clients. Some honest brokers do mention it; many don't.
This is precisely where an independent customs pre-compliance consultancy plays a key role: working upstream of declarations, on behalf of the importer, with no financial dependency on the volume of filings. - Reason 3 — Perceived complexity
Many SMEs assume that CCI requires heavy certifications, lengthy procedures, or resources reserved for large groups. This is a misconception. Most Belgian importing SMEs are eligible with a well-prepared file. The actual effort is concentrated in the initial audit and authorisation request phase; once in place, CCI simplifies operations rather than complicating them.
4 — How to Concretely Activate CCI
The activation process can be summarised in four stages:
- 1 : Internal customs audit — mapping HS codes used, declared origins, customs values, applied regimes, AEO status (current or target). This is the diagnostic phase.
- 2 : Authorisation file preparation — building the request to the Belgian customs authority (AGD&A), with all required supporting documents and demonstration of administrative reliability.
- 3 : Coordination with brokers at entry ports — CCI does not eliminate brokers; it reorganises their role. They become operational partners of the centralised declaration, no longer the central decision-makers.
- 4 : Internal traceability system implementation — the operator must be able to demonstrate, at any time, the traceability of its imports and the consistency between physical flows and declarations.
This entire process generally takes 3 to 6 months. It is therefore an investment, not an immediate transformation — but an investment that quickly pays off for any SME importing through more than two European ports.
Conclusion
CCI is no longer an exotic option. It is the first building block of a modern European customs strategy for a growing Belgian SME. With the EU Customs Reform 2026-2034 already underway, companies that activate CCI today are taking a 3 to 5-year structural lead over their competitors.
The question is no longer whether to activate CCI, but when and with which orchestrator.