Information for those transporting goods to and from France and the United Kingdom
ELO will become mandatory starting April 20, 2026 for Smart Border Channel Crossings
Montreuil, 2 March 2026
French customs informs you that the presentation of an ELO (Obligatory Logistics Envelope), webservice interconnected with the French Smart Border System with the United Kingdom, will be mandatory starting April 20, 2026.
The purpose of ELO is to simplify, secure, and streamline crossings of the Smart Border for roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) traffic, whether accompanied or unaccompanied, for all transport units. ELO consolidates all the necessary information related to your goods — including your customs formalities
and your ICS2 ENS, depending on the applicable flow — under a single reference. This reference is issued as a PDF document featuring a barcode for easy identification and processing. Only one ELO must be created per transport unit (one truck = one ELO). The ELO online service has been accessible via a douane.gouv.fr account since April 28, 2025. As of April 20, 2026, any transport unit using the Smart Border must present an ELO at check-in. A
transport unit without an ELO may be refused boarding by the ferry or shuttle operator or, if allowed to board, may not have its customs formalities processed during the crossing. This may result in the following consequences:
• Upon entry into France: routing to the orange lane to regularize formalities at the competent
customs office;
• Upon exit from France: failure to finalize TDU exit formalities and the need to use alternative
proof to obtain tax clearance.
Economic operators can find useful information and resources on douane.gouv.fr/ELO in English,
including :
• The ELO User Guide
• The Guide of Frequently Encountered Problems
• The Note to Operators n°26000023 on How to File an ENS in ICS2 for the Brexit Smart Border
• An ELO / Smart Border Process Flowchart.
DGDDI - bureau Comint1
Last updated: 26-03-2026
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