What: The EU Customs Reform's implementation for e-commerce advanced in 2026, replacing the duty-free threshold for low-value imports with a temporary €3 flat duty and preparing mandatory product identifiers plus a new handling fee for November.

Why it is important: The reform closes the pricing advantage that low-cost, high-volume importers like Shein and Temu have relied on, while placing new compliance, data and cost burdens on every platform, seller and carrier moving goods into the EU.

The EU Customs Reform, an overhaul of the 2016 Union Customs Code, is being rolled out in phases across 2026 to 2028, driven by the need to digitalise customs systems, strengthen resilience to crises, and better manage the rapid growth of low-value parcel volumes. Its first e-commerce milestone took effect on 1 July 2026: consignments valued at €150 or under, previously exempt from customs duties, now carry a temporary flat duty of €3 per item, to be replaced by the applicable Common Customs Tariff rate from 1 July 2028.

The €3 duty applies per item line and becomes due when the customs declaration is accepted, with liability allocated through a cascade running from platforms using an Import One-Stop Shop registration, to users of postal special arrangements, to indirect customs representatives such as carriers, and, in permitting member states, other third parties — the customer is never the debtor. Whether the cost is folded into the sale price, charged at checkout or collected on delivery depends on individual seller and platform arrangements.

A second milestone follows on 1 November 2026, bringing two further measures: mandatory product identifiers (merchant and manufacturer references, plus an international identifier where available) for every item regardless of value, to improve supply-chain traceability; and a new flat handling fee, expected between €2 and €4, aimed at discouraging non-compliant imports and funding customs capacity. Operational details, including the exact fee amount and remittance mechanism, remain pending. Preparations should begin well ahead of the EU Customs Data Hub's operational launch for e-commerce in 2028, given the scale of the data-sharing, IT and compliance changes involved.

IADS Notes: The temporary €3 flat duty that took effect on 1 July 2026 was foreshadowed well in advance: as far back as November 2025, reporting flagged the EU's intent to scrap the €150 duty-free threshold entirely, phasing in a temporary framework before the digital Customs Data Hub arrives in 2028 (Forbes, November 2025). The following month, the specific €3-per-parcel figure and July 2026 start date were confirmed, with the measure explicitly framed as a response to the direct-to-consumer volumes generated by Shein and Temu (WWD, December 2025). In the interim, national-level attempts at similar levies ran into trouble: Italy's own €2 parcel tax triggered a rerouting of shipments through neighbouring member states, a "boomerang effect" that undercut Italian logistics operators without curbing the underlying import volumes (Financial Times, January 2026). That episode is a useful precedent for the new EU-wide handling fee due in November 2026: it illustrates exactly the kind of trade diversion the article notes prompted several member states to withdraw their own national fees ahead of schedule.

The EU Customs Reform for e-commerce: overview of milestones in 2026