- From 1 July 2026 the EU is removing the €150 customs duty exemption on parcels entering from non-EU countries, replacing it with a temporary flat €3 duty charged per product category, not per parcel. A series of national per-parcel fees (France, Italy, Romania, Belgium) and an EU handling fee arrive alongside it, and from 1 November 2026 low-value declarations will require up to three product identifiers per line. The change reshapes landed cost and pricing for direct-to-consumer flows shipped into the EU from outside it. Goods already held and despatched from within the EU are unaffected, which makes EU-based fulfilment the cleanest way to sidestep the new charges entirely.
If you sell physical goods to customers in the European Union from outside it, the rules at the border are about to change. From 1 July 2026 the long-standing EU de minimis exemption that let parcels valued at €150 or less clear customs duty-free disappears. In its place comes a temporary flat-rate duty, a cluster of new national fees, and tighter data requirements at clearance. This guide explains what is actually changing, what is not, what it costs, and how your fulfilment model determines whether any of it touches your orders at all.
De minimis is the threshold below which imported goods clear customs without attracting duty. In the EU, that threshold has been €150 per consignment: parcels at or under that value entering from a non-EU country paid no customs duty, only import VAT. From 1 July 2026 that exemption is removed.
In its place, a temporary flat-rate customs duty of €3 applies to in-scope low-value consignments. The Council of the European Union gave the measure final legislative approval on 11 February 2026, and the underlying regulation was published on 30 April 2026. The headline is simple. The detail is where the cost sits.
The €3 is charged per product category, not per parcel
This is the single most misreported point. The flat rate is applied per HS6 tariff line, so a parcel containing one type of product attracts one €3 charge, while a parcel containing three distinct product types — say a phone, a charger, and a pair of earphones — attracts three separate €3 charges. For multi-item orders, the per-parcel cost climbs quickly.
Who the flat rate covers
The €3 rate primarily applies to B2C consignments under €150 entering the EU where the non-EU seller is registered in the EU’s Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) for VAT. It also applies to postal consignments.
Pro Tip: Model the new duty against your actual basket composition, not your average order value. A €40 order of four different SKUs now carries €12 in flat duty before any national fee — a margin hit that average-order-value maths completely hides.
Worried about how 1 July affects your EU orders? Talk to our team about EU-based fulfilment.
Not every shipment is caught by the new flat rate. Knowing what is excluded is as important as knowing what is included, because it shapes where the cost actually lands.
| Shipment type | Status from 1 July 2026 |
|---|---|
| B2C under €150, IOSS-registered seller | €3 flat duty per HS6 line |
| B2C under €150, non-IOSS | H7 simplified declaration at standard tariff rate |
| B2B VAT-registered import | Out of scope of flat rate |
| C2C private individuals | Exempt under existing thresholds |
| Any consignment over €150 | Standard customs duty (unchanged) |
The €3 duty is the EU-level measure, but it does not arrive alone. Several national and EU charges land in parallel, and they stack on top of the flat duty rather than replacing it. Prepaying VAT through IOSS does not eliminate them.
| Charge | Authority | Effective date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| €3 flat-rate customs duty | EU (Council Regulation) | 1 July 2026 | Per HS6 line, B2C IOSS/postal flows under €150 |
| EU Union handling fee (~€2) | EU (proposed) | 1 November 2026 | Per consignment, separate from the €3 duty |
| Romania logistics tax (~€5 / 25 lei) | Romania | 1 January 2026 (live) | Per parcel, non-EU imports under €150 |
| France Small Parcels Tax (€2) | France | 1 March 2026 | Per unique HS6 item category, clearance in France |
| Italy parcel contribution (€2) | Italy | 1 July 2026 | Postponed from an earlier date |
Belgium has also reported a €2 fee, with implementation details still unclear. These national fees are legally distinct from EU customs duty and VAT, which means a single low-value parcel into the wrong market can carry the EU flat duty, an EU handling fee, and a national per-parcel charge simultaneously.
Pro Tip: Map your EU order volume by destination country before July. If a meaningful share routes through France, Italy, or Romania, the per-parcel national fees may move the needle on your fulfilment strategy faster than the €3 duty itself.
The charges grab the headlines, but the quieter change has the longer tail. From 1 November 2026, low-value distance-sale customs declarations are expected to require up to three product identifiers per line:
This is a real change in how product data must be communicated across the customs chain. Brands that already maintain clean product master data — reliable SKUs, manufacturer references, and validated GTINs — will absorb it without much friction. Brands that do not will feel it on every declaration, on every order, indefinitely.
The €3 deadline is a one-off cost event. The data requirement is an operational standard you live with from November onwards.
Worried about how 1 July affects your EU orders? Talk to our team about EU-based fulfilment.
Here is the part that changes the strategic picture. Every charge described above applies to goods crossing the EU customs border on a B2C order. They are border events, triggered at the point a low-value parcel enters the EU from a non-EU country.
Goods that are already inside the EU are in free circulation. They have cleared customs once, in bulk, when they entered. From that point, despatching them to a customer in Dublin, Paris, or Milan is a domestic EU movement — no per-order customs duty, no €3 flat rate, no national low-value parcel fee, and no per-line identifier declaration on each shipment.
That is the difference between shipping into the EU on every order and shipping within the EU. For a brand based outside the EU, holding stock in an EU fulfilment centre converts a stream of taxable border crossings into a single bulk import followed by clean domestic delivery.
| Factor | Ship into the EU per order | Fulfil from within the EU |
|---|---|---|
| €3 flat duty | Per HS6 line, per parcel | Not applicable (cleared in bulk) |
| National per-parcel fees | Apply by destination | Not applicable |
| Per-line product identifiers | Required on every declaration | One bulk import declaration |
| Delivery speed to customer | Cross-border clearance time | Domestic transit times |
| Customer experience | Possible duty/fee surprises | No border charges at the door |
Pro Tip: Ireland is an English-speaking, common-law EU member state — a practical entry point for UK and non-EU brands that want EU free circulation without operating in a second language or unfamiliar legal system.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| The €150 exemption ends 1 July 2026 | Low-value parcels into the EU lose their duty-free status. |
| The €3 duty is per category, not per parcel | Multi-SKU orders attract a €3 charge per HS6 line. |
| National fees stack on top | France, Italy, Romania, and Belgium add per-parcel charges by destination. |
| Product data rules tighten from November | Up to three identifiers per line on low-value declarations. |
| EU-based fulfilment sidesteps it all | Goods in free circulation ship domestically, with no per-order border charges. |
I have watched a lot of brands react to border-cost changes over the years, and the pattern is always the same. The first instinct is to treat it as a paperwork problem — re-check the IOSS registration, ask the broker about HS codes, update the duty line in the checkout. All of that is necessary. None of it changes the underlying economics.
The brands that come out ahead ask a different question: do these parcels need to cross the EU border on every order at all? Because the €3 duty, the French and Italian and Romanian fees, the November identifier rules — every one of them is triggered by a low-value consignment entering the EU from outside. Move the stock inside the EU once, in bulk, and the per-order version of all those charges simply stops applying. You clear customs one time instead of ten thousand times.
I would also push back on the panic in some of the vendor emails landing this month. The €3 deadline is real and worth planning for, but you do not need to overhaul your entire catalogue under time pressure to handle it. What you need is a clear view of your EU order volume by destination and a decision about where your stock should sit. For most direct-to-consumer brands selling steadily into the EU, that decision points one way: hold inventory in the EU and ship domestically. The customs change does not just raise a cost — it raises the value of being on the right side of the border in the first place.
— ChiefPlaneteer
Worried about how 1 July affects your EU orders? Talk to our team about EU-based fulfilment.
Getting ahead of the de minimis change is less about customs paperwork and more about where your inventory lives. That is exactly what a fulfilment partner inside the EU is for.
ParcelPlanet operates EU-based order fulfilment from Ireland, giving non-EU and UK brands a way to hold stock in free circulation and deliver to customers across the European Union as domestic shipments — without a per-order customs duty, a national parcel fee, or a fresh product-identifier declaration on every order. We handle the pick, pack, and despatch, integrate with your e-commerce platform and courier networks, and give you real-time visibility across every order and stock movement, so you can focus on growth instead of border admin.
If the 1 July change is on your radar and you want to understand what EU fulfilment would mean for your landed cost, get in touch with our team for a tailored quote.
De minimis is the value threshold below which imported goods clear customs free of duty. In the EU it has been €150 per consignment — parcels at or under that value entering from a non-EU country paid import VAT but no customs duty. That duty exemption is removed from 1 July 2026.
A temporary flat rate of €3 applies to in-scope low-value B2C consignments under €150. It is charged per HS6 tariff line, so a parcel with three distinct product types attracts three separate €3 charges rather than one.
No. The flat duty and the related national fees are triggered when a low-value parcel crosses the EU customs border from a non-EU country. Goods already in free circulation inside the EU ship to customers as domestic movements and are not subject to these per-order charges.
A proposed EU Union handling fee of around €2 per consignment (from 1 November 2026), plus national per-parcel charges in Romania (~€5, live), France (€2), Italy (€2), and a reported €2 fee in Belgium. These are legally distinct from EU customs duty and VAT and stack on top of the flat rate.
From 1 November 2026, low-value distance-sale declarations are expected to require up to three identifiers per line: the merchant’s SKU, the manufacturer’s product code, and a standardised global identifier (GTIN, EAN, or UPC where one exists).
No. It is an interim bridge measure. Once the EU Customs Data Hub becomes fully operational (current target mid-2028), the flat rate is expected to be replaced by full classification-based duties tied to HS code and country of origin, applied regardless of value. A legislative review is due by 1 December 2027.
Worried about how 1 July affects your EU orders? Talk to our team about EU-based fulfilment.
