01 / The exemption
Duty-free entry is over
Until July 2026, parcels of EUR 150 or less entered the EU without duty. That exemption is gone.
EU CUSTOMS REFORM 2026
The EU customs reform is costing you money on every parcel.
In force since 1 July 2026: a flat EUR 3 customs duty per item in every parcel of EUR 150 or less sold to a consumer, on every order, with VAT and declaration costs on top.
WHAT CHANGES
Three things changed at the border.
In plain terms: if you ship orders to consumers in the EU from outside the EU, every parcel now costs you EUR 3 for each item it holds, one declaration line per tariff classification, on every order. If your stock sits inside the EU, the charge does not apply to you.
02 / The charge
EUR 3 per item
The charge is per item in the parcel, one declaration line per tariff classification, not per parcel. And it repeats on every order.
03 / The horizon
2028 raises the bar again
The EUR 3 is temporary. From July 2028, standard customs duties are due to take its place.
1 category EUR 3 2 categories EUR 6 3 categories EUR 9 and so on, per parcel, on every order
BEFORE AND AFTER
The same parcel, three situations.
| Operational line | Until July 2026 | Since July 2026 | With stock in the EU |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customs duty | None | EUR 3 per category | None |
| A two-category parcel | EUR 0 | EUR 6 | EUR 0 |
| Border crossings | Every order | Every order, charged | Once, in bulk |
| Delivery | From abroad | From abroad | Local, inside the EU |
| Returns | Shipped back abroad | Shipped back abroad | Handled inside the EU |
| From July 2028 | Not relevant | Standard duties, per parcel | Nothing changes |
SEE YOUR NUMBER
What does the reform cost a brand like yours?
Your exposure is simple arithmetic: parcels a month, times items, times EUR 3. Enter your volume and see the yearly figure, and what holding stock inside the EU removes.
Enter a volume to see the figure.
ESTIMATED ANNUAL REFORM EXPOSURE
This is the recurring exposure the reform creates. It scales with volume, not as a one-time fix.
Shipping parcel by parcel from outside the EU
EUR 0
The flat EUR 3 duty applies per item within parcels valued at EUR 150 or less. At an average order value above EUR 150, a parcel falls outside the small-parcel baseline, so this estimate reflects the sub-EUR-150 parcels in the volume.
Holding stock inside the EU
EUR 0
Border events become one bulk import. Downstream orders ship from inside the EU.
This figure is the flat EUR 3 baseline at one item per parcel. A parcel that mixes several tariff sub-headings pays the fee once per item, and VAT and customs-declaration costs sit on top of it.
See full analysis
Get the full breakdown for this brand, including category exposure and the EU-held-stock comparison.
ESTIMATED ANNUAL REFORM EXPOSURE
Request received
EFC will follow up with the full breakdown at the email entered. To walk through what an EU operating base would look like for this brand, book a call.
Book a callCommercial summary, not legal or customs advice. Exact treatment depends on product, HS code, destination, and consignment value.
EFC POSITION
The reform moves the line. EFC moves the stock.
The model is structural. Your inventory enters Europe once as one bulk import, with customs handled at entry in the setup that fits you. Every downstream order then ships from inside the EU, where the small-parcel charge does not apply.
EFC operates that European side end to end: customs and bonded operations, EU warehousing, local fulfilment, and returns, without you standing up a company, a warehouse, or a team abroad.
SOURCES
Where these facts come from
-
European Commission · 8 June 2026
Guidance and legal text on the temporary EUR 3 customs duty for low-value imports
The charge, its per-category basis, and the 1 July 2028 end date
Open official source -
EUR-Lex · February 2026
Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382
The legal text of the duty
Open official source -
Council of the European Union · 11 February 2026
Final green light to new customs-duty rules for small parcels
The decision and its timeline
Open official source -
European Commission · Standing guidance
Customs warehousing and release into free circulation
The procedure behind EU-held stock
Open official source -
Council of the European Union · 2028 horizon
The EU Customs Data Hub and the customs reform roadmap
The expected 2028 transition to standard duties
Open official source
Commercial summary, not legal or customs advice. Exact treatment depends on product, HS code, destination, and consignment value.
THE REFORM, QUESTIONED
What brands ask about the 2026 customs reform.
Which shipments does the 2026 EU customs reform affect?
Low-value consignments of EUR 150 or less, sold at a distance to consumers and entering the EU from outside it. The charge applies per item within each parcel and recurs on every order. Goods already in free circulation inside the EU are not affected.
Is the EUR 3 charged per product or per category?
Per item, which the Commission's guidance applies as one line of the customs declaration per tariff classification, not per unit. Five products under the same sub-heading pay EUR 3 once; a parcel holding two sub-headings pays EUR 6.
What counts as an item?
A tariff sub-heading: the customs classification line the products fall under. Products that share a sub-heading count as one category in the parcel, whatever the quantity.
Is VAT included in the EUR 3?
No. VAT and customs-declaration costs sit on top of the duty, exactly as before. A separate EU handling fee is coming: a Commission delegated act of 21 September 2026 puts it at EUR 2 per item. The act is not yet in force. It applies from the tenth day after publication in the Official Journal, so the start date is not fixed.
Does IOSS remove the duty?
No. IOSS settles the VAT, not the duty. The Commission's guidance states the EUR 3 is meant to apply to every consignment of EUR 150 or less sold in a distance sale to a consumer, whichever VAT scheme is used (IOSS, the special arrangements or standard VAT). The one exception the guidance keeps is for goods claiming a preferential rate under a trade or customs union agreement, declared on an H1 with the preference code, and only where IOSS has not been used. What sits outside it is not a VAT choice but a different kind of import: goods that are not sold in a distance sale, such as a B2B shipment or a brand moving its own stock, pay the normal duty rate whatever their value, because the relief itself was abolished.
Does the charge depend on where the parcel ships from?
No. It is a flat EU-wide duty on low-value consignments sold to consumers and entering from outside the EU, whatever the origin country and whatever the carrier.
Does it apply to marketplace and dropshipping orders?
Yes. The charge attaches to the parcel crossing the border, not to the sales channel. An order fulfilled from outside the EU carries it regardless of where the sale happened.
What about parcels over EUR 150?
Nothing changed for them: they were never duty-exempt and continue to follow the standard customs treatment for their value and classification.
Which regulation introduces the charge?
Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, published on EUR-Lex. The Council of the European Union gave its final green light on 11 February 2026, and the duty has been in force since 1 July 2026.
What changes on 1 July 2028?
The temporary EUR 3 charge is due to end, and standard customs duties are expected to apply to small parcels, calculated through the new EU Customs Data Hub. The parcel-by-parcel model gets more expensive again.
What is the EU Customs Data Hub?
The central customs data platform the EU is building as part of the broader customs reform. It is expected to carry the 2028 move from the flat EUR 3 charge to standard customs duties on small parcels.
How does holding stock inside the EU change the exposure?
Stock enters once as one bulk import, customs handled at entry in the setup that fits you. Every order then ships as an intra-EU movement the small-parcel charge does not apply to, with local delivery and local returns. EFC operates that setup end to end.
GET A QUOTE
Talk to the operations team
On a call we cover your volumes, your products and the operations we would run for you inside the EU. Send a few details and our operations team will reply.
Get a quote