As of 17 March 2026, Poland’s SENT regulations have expanded to include clothing and footwear. These changes affect all Polish exports, imports and loads transiting through Poland.
What is SENT?
SENT (System Elektronicznego Nadzoru Transportu) is Poland’s mandatory electronic tracking system designed to monitor the movement of certain goods entering, leaving, or transiting Poland by road or rail. The system requires shippers, carriers, and drivers to report cargo movements via the PUESC platform.
Until this year, SENT has focused on goods with a high-risk of tax evasion, including alcohol, fuel, food products, and tobacco. However, the scope of SENT has now widened to include fashion and textiles.
This significantly increases compliance obligations for fashion and retail businesses moving goods into, out of, or through Polish territories. As a key transit route into Central and Eastern Europe, even businesses that are not directly importing into Poland may still be caught out by these changes.
What's changing?
As of 17 March 2026, clothing and footwear products under the following CN codes (commonly referred to as HS codes in the UK) are now included within SENT regulations:
- 61 (knitted or crocheted apparel)
- 62 (non-knitted apparel)
- 6309 (worn clothing)
- 64 (footwear)
When transporting goods which fall under these codes, detailed transport data must now be submitted. This includes the weight or number of items, the value of the goods, and product descriptions.
Anyone transporting goods into, out of, or via Poland which fall under these codes will be affected by this change.
What do you need to do?
For fashion and retail businesses relying on Poland as a logistics hub, understanding and adapting to SENT requirements will be critical to maintaining smooth and uninterrupted supply chains. For a shipment to be compliant, the following steps must be followed:
- a SENT notification is submitted before transport enters Poland
- data is updated during transport if required
- the SENT notification is closed after delivery
- the transporting vehicle has the SENT reference number before entering Poland
- the transporting vehicle is registered with the Polish authorities
- the transporting vehicle is equipped with tracking facilities
To ensure these steps can be met, a UK business needs to:
- Register on the PUESC platform
- Use a haulier company with tracking capabilities set up with the PUESC website
- Grant power of attorney to the party or parties acting on their behalf to open and close any SENT declarations, as well as any intermediaries (such as a customs broker)
How to register on the PUESC platform
Before moving affected goods, businesses need to register on the PUESC system, appoint a named contact, and obtain a Polish identification number from the Polish authorities.
Businesses may need support from an approved third party during the process, and those providers can be found on the PUESC website.
Additionally, when using a freight forwarder, businesses will need to sign a POA (Power of Attorney) to allow them to act on their behalf when it comes to customs clearances.
The change adds a new layer of scrutiny to a trade route widely used by apparel and footwear companies operating across Europe. Immediate risks for those who fail to adhere to the new requirements include penalties and shipment stoppages.
What are the risks?
Failure to submit a transport notification in SENT, incorrect data, or failure to update information may result in high administrative penalties. In extreme cases these will be calculated as a percentage of the value of the goods (with a minimum monetary threshold).
Carriers may be penalised for failure to submit a notification, lack of geolocation, or failure to present the vehicle for inspection.
Drivers may face fines for starting transport without a reference number or for not activating location tracking. In practice, failure to adapt also means a real risk of transport being stopped during inspections and delays in the supply chain.
Taking the complexity out of customs
Moving goods into or out of the EU can sound complicated. Our in-house customs team has years of experience in staying up to date on changes to rules and regulations ensuring smooth transits between the UK and EU, and EU and UK. If you need support with customs, we’re here to help.
