From 1 July €3 duties on parcels under €150 arriving from non-EU countries

Brussels – Online shopping: the announced restrictions on parcels worth less than €150 are set to come into effect. From 1 July 2026, a €3 duty will apply across the EU to every product purchased online and arriving from non-EU countries. The decision in principle was already made last month, but the Ecofin meeting today (12 December) makes it operational by setting the criteria.

The 3€ rate will apply to all goods entering the EU for which non-EU sellers are registered with the EU’s one-stop shop for imports (IOSS) for value-added tax purposes. This “accounts for 93 per cent of all e-commerce flows to the EU,” Brussels points out.

The measure is not intended to be an anti-China tool. Still, the bulk of the packages arrive from the People’s Republic, and one of the fears around the table is that many goods are sold in the single market at below-cost prices to avoid paying the tariffs imposed on parcels worth more than €150. According to the European Commission, in 2024, 91 per cent of all e-commerce shipments worth less than €150 came from China, and EU estimates show that up to 65 per cent of small parcels entering the EU are being underpriced to avoid import duties.

The Trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, rejoices: “The decision on customs duties for small parcels arriving in the EU is important to ensure fair competition at our borders in today’s era of e-commerce.” For Šefčovič, “with the rapid expansion of e-commerce, the world is changing rapidly, and we need the right tools to keep up.”

The final decision comes at the end of a five-year legislative process. The Commission proposed withdrawing the exemption from customs duties for parcels valued at less than €150 in May 2023 as part of the customs reform. The initial proposal for revocation envisaged an application from mid-2028. The Council adopted the withdrawal of the exemption on 13 November 2025 and requested that the measure be applied as early as 2026. It will therefore start on 1 July next year.

English version by the Translation Service of Withub