One item checked every 15,385. In 2022 the ratio was one every 4,926: in three years the rate of checks by European customs has dropped to about one third, going from 203 to 65 cases per million imported items. This is certified by the latest report from the European Commission on compliance checks of products entering the EU market.
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Almost six billion items: four times more than in 2022
The numbers tell a system under siege. In 2025, almost six billion items were released for free circulation, compared to 1.5 billion in 2022: +298% in three years. The growth is driven almost exclusively by extra-EU e-commerce. Low-value shipments, that is those up to 150 euros which from July 1 are subject to a three-euro duty, today represent 91% of all imports: 5.9 billion packages in 2025 alone.
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Less than 10 items per million blocked at the border
Checks have not kept pace. Customs carried out 387,588 interventions in 2025: 205,888 resulted in a suspension, 58,391 in a definitive refusal. Numbers stable compared to 2024. But the control rate has collapsed to 65 items per million, from 82 in 2024 and 203 in 2022. The suspension rate fell to 34 per million. And the discovery rate — the share of goods actually blocked at the border — for the first time fell below 10, stopping at 9.7 per million.
From products to countries of origin
A measure of the concrete risk is a large-scale control operation launched by the Commission in 2025, divided into two phases. In the first: 20,000 toys and small electronics purchased online from extra-EU operators. More than half non-compliant. Among the products tested in the laboratory, 84% were deemed dangerous. In the second phase: 11,338 cosmetics, personal protective equipment and food supplements. 65% of cosmetics and 60% of PPE out of standard, with the United States, China and the United Kingdom among the main countries of origin of non-compliant products.
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