EU Customs Code Reform Stacks €2 Handling Fee on €3 Parcel Duty

Small parcels have lost their exemption

For years, a cheap order from a non-EU marketplace could reach a European doorstep without paying any customs duty, provided its goods were worth €150 or less. That arrangement is gone. The EU's rewritten customs rulebook is now law, and the next phase starts in two weeks: a €2 per-item Union handling fee, expected from 1 November 2026, on top of the €3 flat duty that has applied since July.

The two charges come from separate legal instruments, and together they show what the reform is trying to do. The €3 duty was a stopgap the Council pushed through to deal with the parcel surge quickly. The handling fee is written into the new Union Customs Code itself. That code also creates an EU Customs Authority and a single EU Customs Data Hub, which will change how cross-border e-commerce is supervised.1223

How the code got here

The Commission proposed the overhaul in May 2023, built around a central authority overseeing a shared data hub.24 Parliament and Council reached a political deal on 26 March 2026. Both institutions called it the biggest reform since the customs union was created in 1968.27 The Council gave final approval on 3 September, and Parliament's final vote followed on 16 September.2326

The regulation, numbered (EU) 2026/2108, was published in the Official Journal on 19 September and took effect the next day. Most provisions apply about a year later. One summary has the 2013 code repealed from 21 September 2027, the date "Trust and Check" trader status also opens.22

The €3 duty, five months in

The duty itself was settled earlier. In December 2025 the Council agreed a fixed €3 charge on low-value consignments. It covers all goods sold by non-EU sellers registered in the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), which the Council said accounts for 93% of e-commerce flows into the EU.11 The Council gave final approval in February 2026. The duty runs from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028, can be extended, and will be replaced by normal tariffs once the data hub is running.12

The charge applies per item category, not per parcel. Five identical T-shirts in one box pay €3, but a box with a T-shirt and a watch pays €6, because the two products fall under different tariff subheadings.8 Several commentaries get this wrong and describe a per-parcel charge.3540 In the official framework, though, the number of distinct product types sets the bill, so tariff classification now affects cost directly.

Coverage also differs on who actually pays. Compliance guidance says the duty falls on the seller, importer or their representative, not on the shopper at the door.3 Other analyses say the cost will end up with consumers anyway.16 Both are right in their own way: the legal liability sits with the business, and the economic cost goes wherever pricing decisions send it.

The EU gives two main reasons for ending the exemption. Sellers were splitting orders and undervaluing goods, which turned the threshold into a loophole.1 And EU-wide inspections in 2025 found that more than 60% of checked low-value products failed EU safety rules.3

The €2 fee goes further than the duty

The new code creates the handling fee but leaves the amount to the Commission. On 21 September the Commission adopted a delegated regulation setting it at €2 per item.42 The fee is meant to cover customs' supervision costs: checking data, risk analysis, and documentary and physical controls.41

The fee's scope matters more than its size. The €3 duty stops at €150, but the handling fee does not. The Commission's explanatory memorandum says distance sales above €150 also pay it.44 Unlike the duty, the fee has no end date. It is also non-refundable, including for refused deliveries and returns. The Commission treats it as payment for a public-authority service, so no VAT is charged on it.44

Early coverage was inconsistent here too. Some reports expected €2 per parcel, possibly with discounts for consolidated shipments. Others described it as a fee limited to parcels under €150.43 The delegated act settles the question: €2 per item, at any value.44 At least one analysis says national authorities still describe "item" differently, so how it is applied in practice may vary for a while.

The 1 November start date is very likely but not yet formally fixed. Parliament and Council have until 21 October to object. At a committee hearing on 15 October, members of Parliament's internal market committee broadly welcomed the fee, and neither institution is expected to block it. Once both charges apply, a €60 parcel holding five T-shirts and a watch will carry €10 in fixed charges instead of €6, before any VAT.44

Volumes are down, but sales have moved rather than vanished

The main point of disagreement is what the duty has actually achieved. A Commission official told the committee that the €3 charge had cut low-value inflows by 40% to 60%, depending on the comparison. She also said this did not mean fewer sales: sellers are shipping more goods in bulk to EU warehouses and delivering from there. Other estimates fall in a similar range. French customs put the drop at 30–40%, and a Belgian broadcaster reported that small Shein and Temu shipments arriving at Liège Airport had halved.32 BEUC, the European consumer organisation, cautioned that it is too early to say whether shopping habits have changed for good.32

The Commission official's own explanation points to the main question about the policy: whether it has reduced the parcel flow or just moved it. Reporting in July said Shein and Temu had already moved a large share of EU-bound stock into European warehouses before the duty started. Orders shipped from those warehouses count as domestic deliveries and fall outside the per-item charge.35 Temu reportedly aims to ship about 80% of European orders from local warehouses.38 Amazon said 97% of its EU shipments were already fulfilled inside the bloc.34

An optimistic reading is that this outcome is intended. The March agreement deliberately encourages non-EU sellers to run EU warehouses, because bulk imports are easier for customs to check.25 Seen that way, moving stock into Europe is the goal: goods arrive in bulk, pay normal tariffs, and are easier to inspect.

The more critical reading is that the costs now fall unevenly. Platforms that own their logistics can absorb the change, while smaller sellers who ship single orders across the border cannot.35 UK advisers make a similar point. Sellers using Amazon FBA, which already imports in bulk, see little change, while direct-to-consumer Shopify merchants face charges that may make low-value sales unviable.18 A worked example for a £20 item shows fixed charges taking 22% of the price, compared with 7% on a £60 item.42

On the evidence so far, the policy works as a customs and safety measure, but it is a weaker tool for protecting EU competitors than the political messaging suggested. The duty has changed the logistics of cheap imports, and the giants have adapted fastest. In committee, lead negotiator Dirk Gotink said the duty "kills a toxic business model". Whether that holds true for the platforms, or mainly for small independent sellers, is still open. Maltese MEP Alex Agius Saliba raised a further cost: he called the combined €5 charge an unjust tax that falls hardest on island consumers.

The bigger change comes in 2028

The longer-term change is in data, not fees. From 1 July 2028, the data hub becomes mandatory for distance-sales imports and IOSS users. Other traders can join voluntarily from March 2031 and must do so by March 2034.22 The hub will replace at least 111 customs IT systems.25 The Commission estimates national savings of more than €2 billion a year.21

Platforms will also carry legal responsibility. Sellers and marketplaces that facilitate distance sales will be treated as importers. They must provide data, pay or guarantee charges, and make sure goods comply with EU law. They must also be established in the EU or use a qualified EU representative, a rule meant to stop shell companies.25 Under the Commission's model, these "importers for distance sales" report each sale to customs as soon as it happens, so risk checks can run before goods reach the border.21 Repeat offenders face fines of 1% to 6% of the previous year's imports, can lose trusted status, and in serious cases can have access to their online interface suspended.2529

The €3 duty and €2 fee are the most visible part of the reform, but the larger shift is to a system where customs knows what was sold before it ships. For cross-border sellers, accurate data and EU-based stock are becoming as important as price.