diff --git a/stdnum/eu/excise.py b/stdnum/eu/excise.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..25625d34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stdnum/eu/excise.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+# excise.py - functions for handling EU Excise numbers
+# coding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2023 Cédric Krier
+#
+# This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+# version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+# Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+# 02110-1301 USA
+
+"""Excise Number
+
+The Excise Number is the identification number issued by the competent
+authority in respect of the person or premises.
+
+The first two letters are the ISO country code of the Member State where the
+operator is located (e.g. LU);
+The next 11 alphanumeric characters are the identifier of the operator.
+The identifier must include 11 digits, shorter identifiers must be padded to
+the left with zeroes (e.g. 00000987ABC)
+
+More information:
+
+* https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/seed/help/seedhedn.jsp
+
+>>> compact('LU 00000987ABC')
+'LU00000987ABC'
+>>> validate('LU00000987ABC')
+'LU00000987ABC'
+"""
+
+from stdnum.eu.vat import MEMBER_STATES
+from stdnum.exceptions import *
+from stdnum.util import clean, get_soap_client
+
+
+seed_wsdl = 'https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/seed/services/excise/verification?wsdl'
+"""The WSDL URL of the System for Exchange of Excise Data (SEED)."""
+
+
+def compact(number):
+    """Convert the number to the minimal representation. This strips the number
+    of any valid separators and removes surrounding whitespace."""
+    number = clean(number, ' ').upper().strip()
+    return number
+
+
+def validate(number):
+    """Check if the number is a valid Excise number."""
+    number = clean(number, ' ').upper().strip()
+    cc = number[:2]
+    if cc.lower() not in MEMBER_STATES:
+        raise InvalidComponent()
+    if len(number) != 13:
+        raise InvalidLength()
+    return number
+
+
+def is_valid(number):
+    """Check if the number is a valid Excise number."""
+    try:
+        return bool(validate(number))
+    except ValidationError:
+        return False
+
+
+def check_seed(number, timeout=30):  # pragma: no cover (not part of normal test suite)
+    """Query the online European Commission System for Exchange of Excise Data
+    (SEED) for validity of the provided number. Note that the service has
+    usage limitations (see the VIES website for details). The timeout is in
+    seconds. This returns a dict-like object."""
+    number = compact(number)
+    client = get_soap_client(seed_wsdl, timeout)
+    return client.verifyExcise(number)
diff --git a/tests/test_eu_excise.doctest b/tests/test_eu_excise.doctest
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f3122892
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_eu_excise.doctest
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+test_eu_excise.doctests - more detailed doctests for the stdnum.eu.excise module
+
+Copyright (C) 2023 Cédric Krier
+
+This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+Lesser General Public License for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+02110-1301 USA
+
+This file contains more detailed doctests for the stdnum.eu.excise module. It
+tries to validate a number of Excise numbers that have been found online.
+
+>>> from stdnum.eu import excise
+>>> from stdnum.exceptions import *
+
+These have been found online and should all be valid numbers.
+
+>>> numbers = '''
+...
+... LU 00000987ABC
+... FR012907E0820
+... '''
+>>> [x for x in numbers.splitlines() if x and not excise.is_valid(x)]
+[]
+
+The following numbers are wrong in one way or another. First we need a
+function to be able to determine the kind of error.
+
+>>> def caught(number, exception):
+...     try:
+...         excise.validate(number)
+...         return False
+...     except exception:
+...         return True
+...
+
+
+These numbers should be mostly valid except that they have the wrong length.
+
+>>> numbers = '''
+...
+... LU987ABC
+... '''
+>>> [x for x in numbers.splitlines() if x and not caught(x, InvalidLength)]
+[]
+
+These numbers should be mostly valid except that they have the wrong prefix
+
+>>> numbers = '''
+...
+... XX00000987ABC
+... '''
+>>> [x for x in numbers.splitlines() if x and not caught(x, InvalidComponent)]
+[]
diff --git a/tests/test_eu_excise.py b/tests/test_eu_excise.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dd36044a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_eu_excise.py
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+# test_eu_excise.py - functions for testing the online SEED validation
+# coding: utf-8
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2023 Cédric Krier
+#
+# This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+# version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+# Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+# 02110-1301 USA
+
+# This is a separate test file because it should not be run regularly
+# because it could negatively impact the SEED service.
+
+"""Extra tests for the stdnum.eu.excise module."""
+
+import os
+import unittest
+
+from stdnum.eu import excise
+
+
+@unittest.skipIf(
+    not os.environ.get('ONLINE_TESTS'),
+    'Do not overload online services')
+class TestSeed(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Test the SEED web service provided by the European commission for
+    validation Excise numbers of European countries."""
+
+    def test_check_seed(self):
+        """Test stdnum.eu.excise.check_seed()"""
+        result = excise.check_seed('FR012907E0820')
+        self.assertTrue('errorDescription' not in result)
+        self.assertTrue(len(result['result']) > 0)
+        first = result['result'][0]
+        self.assertEqual(first['excise'], 'FR012907E0820')