New E-commerce duty for small packages set to increase fairness for EU businesses and safety for consumers

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Starting today, the EU abolishes an outdated customs duty exemption for e-commerce packages worth less than €150. The measure will help to ensure fair conditions for EU businesses and safe choices for consumers, in response to the surge of billions of low-value e-commerce goods entering the EU. Goods coming from third countries bought online and shipped directly to consumers will now pay a €3 customs duty per item.

The €150 customs duty exemption was designed for an era of occasional online purchases and less digitalised customs systems. This no longer fits reality, and its removal corrects a long-standing structural imbalance for EU enterprises. Across Europe, town high streets are becoming increasingly deserted, undermining local job opportunities and weakening community life. From an environmental perspective, the fast-paced e-commerce model contributes to packaging waste and carbon-heavy logistics, with frequent returns and long-distance shipping doubling transport pollution.

This measure restores fairness across importers, ensuring that EU retailers importing in bulk, and large-scale non-EU online operators compete under the same regulatory conditions.

European consumers are not responsible for paying the duties to the customs authorities.

Duties are collected by the customs authorities from the platforms, or any other business involved in the sale and transportation of the imported goods. Consumers buying online are therefore spared from additional payment at delivery.

Tackling increased risks for EU consumers

The rapid growth of e-commerce has also brought increased risks for consumers. A 2025 EU-wide investigation found that over 60% of low-value goods entering the EU do not comply with product requirements or safety standards. This means they can contain toxic ingredients or be incorrectly labelled, putting consumers in danger.

The new measure also introduces the need to declare product identifiers (PIDs). The inclusion of PIDs improves risk management and control procedures, helping to enforce prohibitions and restrictions. This will support authorities to more effectively detect non-compliant goods and expand controls beyond individual shipments, to cover all items presenting similar risks. This will apply on a voluntary basis from 1 July 2026 and will become mandatory as from November 2026.

A temporary measure until 2028

The €3 rate is a transitional solution, agreed by EU Member States, as an urgent response to the challenges arising from the rapid growth of e-commerce. From July 2028, the EU Customs Data Hub will become operational, applying normal customs duties based on the good’s tariff classification, origin, and value, in accordance with existing/standard EU customs duty rules.

Background

In 2025 alone, 5.9 billion items in low value packages from third countries flooded the EU market without paying customs duties. Every day, more than 16 million packages are cleared by customs to consumers in the EU. Today, low-value packages represent 97% of all imported items in the EU but they account for only 2% of the EU’s import value. As trade patterns shifts, competition in this economic sector is no longer fair. The exemption rule was routinely exploited through undervaluation of goods or artificially splitting orders into multiple parcels to remain below the €150 threshold.

The measure is part of the larger EU Customs Reform, agreed on by the European Parliament and the Member States on 26 March 2026. It is key for safeguarding the EU economy from distorted competition and protecting consumers from the risks of unsafe products. The reform represents a fundamental shift in how goods enter the EU, placing greater responsibility on sellers and platforms.

The reform introduces several targeted measures for e-commerce. In addition to removing the customs duty exemption, it introduces a handling fee on goods imported into the EU, to compensate for the increasing costs for customs authorities. The amount of the fee will be determined in a delegated act and be based on the minimum costs customs authorities face when processing goods. The fee will be introduced no later than 1 November 2026.

For more information

Questions and answers

Guidance document for Member States on €3 temporary customs duty

EU Customs reform

E-commerce data main page