Online purchases sent directly to EU consumers from non-EU sellers will face a temporary €3 customs duty per item from 1 July 2026, under new rules.
The flat fee will apply to distance sales of imported goods in consignments worth up to €150, and will remain in place until 1 July 2028, after which normal customs duties will apply depending on the type of product, the European Commission said in a release on Tuesday.
The change removes the EU’s existing “de minimis” duty-free exemption for low-value imports, which was originally introduced to reduce administrative work but is now considered outdated because electronic data are available for all imported goods.
Almost 5.9 billion low-value items were shipped directly from third countries to consumers in the EU in 2025 without paying customs duties.
Targeted inspections carried out across all 27 EU member states in 2025 found more than 60% of checked products failed EU standards, with problems including missing labels, forbidden ingredients or absent safety documentation.
New identifiers for online imports
From 1 November 2026, “product identifiers” — known as PIDs — will become mandatory for these distance sales imports to improve traceability, with voluntary use allowed from 1 July 2026, the Commission informed.
The €3 duty is charged per item rather than per parcel, meaning a consignment containing different products can attract multiple €3 charges, it said, giving the example of a package with one T-shirt and one watch being charged €6.
Responsibility for paying the duty will generally fall on the declarant — such as the seller or importer, including those using the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) VAT scheme or special arrangements — with consumers paying only in limited cases where a member state offers a free web-based customs declaration system for citizens.
The temporary duty is set to run until 1 July 2028, when the EU Customs Data Hub for e-commerce is due to be operational.
