EU: €3 duty on parcels under €150 and €2 fee from 1 November 2026

What changed

Previously, goods in parcels worth up to €150 entered the EU free of customs duty. Only VAT was payable, and a customs declaration was required. From 1 July 2026, Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 abolished this exemption.

In its place, a temporary duty of €3 per item applies. It will run from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028. By the latter date, the EU plans to launch the EU Customs Data Hub, after which standard tariff rates will return.

Who is affected

The duty applies to consignments worth up to €150 that are distance sales to buyers in the EU (B2C). The VAT regime does not matter: it can be IOSS (the one-stop shop for VAT on low-value imports), special schemes or ordinary import VAT. The type of declaration does not matter either: H1, H6 or H7.

If you import large consignments into a warehouse and then sell within the EU, this rule does not apply to you. The standard tariff applies.

How an "item" is counted

The unit is not the parcel or the piece, but the declaration line. Goods with the same HS code can be combined into one line, so only one duty is charged. The total is the number of lines multiplied by €3.

The table counts the €2 fee per line. For how the fee is calculated per item, check the European Commission's guidance, which defines what counts as an "item". The duty is paid by the declarant: you, your importer or the IOSS holder. The buyer pays nothing extra on delivery if you sell on a duty-paid basis.

What happens on 1 November

• The Union handling fee takes effect: €2 per item on top of the €3 duty.
• Product Identifiers (PIDs) become mandatory in the declaration.
• The European Commission publishes guidance on the duty and the fee on its customs reform page.

What importers should do now

• Recalculate your pricing to include €3 plus €2 for each declaration line. For cheap goods, this can be a significant share of the price.
• Combine identical goods into one parcel and one line: one box with five identical items works out cheaper than five separate shipments.
• Check who your declarant is: the carrier, your IOSS intermediary or your own EU company. Ask how they charge the duty.
• Prepare your PID data before 1 November: ask your logistics provider or customs broker what they will submit.
• Compare shipping parcels from China with sending a consignment to an EU warehouse. At higher volumes, the latter is often cheaper.

For information only, as of 21 October 2026. The method for calculating the €2 fee and the PID requirements are still being clarified. Before signing a contract, check them against the European Commission's current guidance and with your customs broker or IOSS operator.