Effective July 1, 2026, the European Union (EU) has removed the de minimis exemption for commercial goods under €150 imported from non-EU countries.
Low-value goods that previously qualified for duty-free entry are now subject to customs duties upon importation into the EU.
To facilitate the efficient processing of low-value e-commerce shipments, the EU has implemented a flat customs duty of €3, assessed according to the product's HS classification code, country of origin and declaration type. The duty applies to business-to-consumer imports (B2B shipments are not impacted) imported low value goods from non-EU businesses and consignments valued at €150 or less regardless of their Value Added Tax regime.
The customs duty fee will be in effect until July 1, 2028. After that, goods purchased from businesses outside of the EU, such as purchases from e-Commerce platforms will become subject to standard EU customs duties, calculated based on HS code, country of origin and customs value.
Additionally, the EU has announced from November 1, 2026, business-to-consumer sellers will be required to provide the following Product Identifier (PID) information for each individual shipment on commercial invoices and customs declarations: a merchant SKU/item code, a non-standardised manufacturer product code, and a standardised global code (like a GTIN/EAN barcode) if available.
The EU has also announced plans to introduce an additional customs handling fee on imported goods from November 1, 2026 onwards. The fee structure for the customs handling fee is to be determined, but will be applied in addition to the €3 customs duty.
