Amazon Tightens EU Compliance Rules: Goods Without MRN and EORI Will Be Barred from Warehouses Starting September

On August 11, Amazon Global Selling issued a new compliance notice stating that starting September 1, shipments sent directly by non-EU sellers to French fulfillment centers, as well as shipments entering the EU via PAN-EU (Pan-European Fulfillment by Amazon) for warehousing, must provide two import details: the MRN (Movement Reference Number) and EORI (Economic Operators' Registration and Identification Number) of the first point of entry into the EU.

This marks a major upgrade to compliance requirements. The scope of shipments subject to customs declaration information submission has been expanded from "France only" to "the entire EU", and enforcement has shifted from a mere "submission requirement" to penalties for non-submission. Sellers must provide the corresponding MRN and EORI within 60 days of Amazon's fulfillment center receiving their first shipment. If the information remains incomplete after the 60-day period expires, sellers will be unable to create new shipments bound for EU fulfillment centers.

All sellers whose companies are registered outside the EU, and who ship goods from outside the EU to Amazon's French fulfillment centers or to fulfillment centers in other EU countries via the Pan-EU program, are required to comply with this rule. Sellers with companies registered within the EU, or those registered outside the EU but purchasing goods within the EU, are eligible for exemption. However, for the latter scenario, sellers must retain valid purchase invoices for inspection.

Failure to submit MRN and EORI information in a timely manner will only restrict the creation of new shipments; existing inventory already sent to Amazon and in-transit shipments will not be affected. To lift the restriction, sellers only need to complete the missing import details for non-compliant shipments. Sellers using Amazon Global Logistics or the Amazon Partnered Carrier program are not required to manually provide the MRN, but remain responsible for import compliance.

The MRN, which identifies a specific import declaration, is generated by the customs authority of the declaring country and varies per shipment, though sellers may reuse an MRN for multiple shipments if they have legitimate grounds to do so. The EORI is used to identify the identity of economic operators, and is a fixed number for the same enterprise. Sellers may also provide the EORI of their customs broker. The platform only accepts MRNs and EORIs issued by EU authorities.

In addition, Amazon will verify the validity of the MRNs and EORIs provided by sellers, keep relevant records on file for at least six years, and submit import detail records to EU customs authorities for verification as required.