EU – Introduction of the EUR 3 Customs Duty for Low-Value Parcels 

On December 12, 2026, the Council of the EU agreed to introduce a new EUR 3 fixed customs fee for low-value parcels arriving outside the EU. This customs duty takes effect on July 1, 2026, and will apply to all low-value parcels (threshold: EUR 150) in direct B2C cross-border transactions. 

The number of non-EU incoming low-value parcels has been steadily increasing in recent years. The data shows that in 2024, this number has reached 4.6 billion. We are speaking of a daily entrance of 12 million parcels. The scope of work and responsibilities for handling these parcels by customs officials have been causing headaches for local authorities, and this has a direct impact on the EU administrative mechanism. 

From the business perspective, the foreign sellers and digital platforms that primarily profit from this customs benefit have created an uneven playing field. EU retailers, whether those that operate through e-commerce shops or those that make their sales primarily to brick-and-mortar stores, need to handle customs duties, EU and local policies, and other time- and money-consuming administrative hurdles. 

New Customs Duty

To reduce this disparity, starting from July 1, 2026, a customs duty of EUR 3 will be applied per item category in the parcel.  The EUR 3 duty will be applied to each item in a consignment based on its tariff heading.

Customs duty shall be charged only once for a consignment with several units of the same product type if it’s under the EU threshold of EUR 150. A parcel with multiple product types shall be charged a separate duty for each product type. 

This new customs duty shouldn’t be mixed with a handling fee. Handling fee is a work in progress at the EU level. It represents a fee that should serve as a sort of “reimbursement” for the operational costs that the EU customs authorities experience for processing e-commerce parcels. 

Some Member States, such as Romania, have introduced a handling fee at the national level, which will likely coexist with the newly adopted EU-wide customs duty. 

This is a significant change for the non-resident e-commerce suppliers and digital platforms. Their operational and business model for B2C sales to EU customers will be significantly impacted. A lot to think about when it comes to the pricing strategies, transfers of goods, warehouses, and potential new EU partners.