On 2 June 2026, the European Commission published its official guidance notes on the new €3 customs duty on low-value e-commerce shipments into the EU. With less than a month to go, here is a practical summary of what is changing, how it works, and what it means depending on your current setup.
Until now, goods valued under €150 imported into the EU were exempt from customs duty. That ends on 1 July 2026.
A flat-rate customs duty of €3 per item type — determined by the goods' customs tariff (HS) code — will apply to all e-commerce distance sales with an intrinsic value under €150, regardless of how VAT is handled.
This is a temporary measure, in force from July 2026 to July 2028, ahead of the EU's full customs reform which will abolish the €150 threshold entirely.
It's per HS code, not per parcel. A single shipment containing items of different tariff classifications triggers multiple €3 charges — one per distinct 6-digit HS code. A parcel delivered to France with two t-shirts and a pair of shoes (two HS codes) generates €6 in duty:
| Cost element | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Customs Duty | 2 line items × €3 | €6.00 |
| VAT on duty | €6.00 × 20% | €1.20 |
| Total additional cost | €7.20 |
The country of origin plays no role in the calculation, except when the parcel contains goods subject to prohibitions and restrictions, which forces the use of the more detailed standard declaration.
The duty is a customs debt — paid to customs at import, not via IOSS. As the declarant, the IOSS holder is legally responsible for the customs debt: ensuring the €3 per item is paid to customs authorities at the point of import clearance. This is separate from the monthly IOSS VAT return. In practice, the carrier or customs broker pays the duty to customs on the IOSS holder's behalf and invoices them for it. How the IOSS holder recovers that cost — whether by collecting it at checkout, building it into the product price, or absorbing it — is a commercial decision.
HS codes become mandatory for all products. Accurate classification at minimum 6-digit level is now required for every item you ship to the EU, including low-value ones.
No refund on returned goods. There is currently no mechanism to recover the €3 duty on items that are returned.
The €3 duty applies to all distance sales under €150 — with or without IOSS. However, parcels clearing through IOSS are expected to clear faster and with lower cost overhead.
With IOSS, duty and VAT is collected from the buyer at checkout, and the parcel can continue to be cleared at a central EU entry point (as today). While the IOSS holder becomes the legal customs declarant, responsible for the applicable 3€ duties, carriers' customs brokers are expected to pay the customs duties in practise (and collect paid duties from the merchant later). The IOSS holder will continue remitting collected VAT monthly in the IOSS registered member state.
Without IOSS, your carrier will now have to clear each parcel in the final destination country — a major operational change that adds routing complexity and can extend delivery timescales. Moreover, the more detailed customs declaration format required for non-IOSS shipments will likely attract higher processing fees from carriers and brokers.
IOSS was already the recommended route for a smooth EU import experience. From 1 July, with duties now applying to all shipments, the gap in customer experience between IOSS and non-IOSS widens further.
Separately from the €3 duty, the EU is working on an additional customs handling fee — expected €2 per consignment — to offset the administrative costs customs authorities incur processing high volumes of small parcels.
This new handling fee is anticipated from November 2026 and and expected to replace all existing interim custom handling fees put in place by different member states, in particular:
From 1 November 2026, all EU distance sale imports will be required to include product identifiers (PIDs) in customs declarations. The objective is to give customs authorities better tools to identify and act on non-compliant goods at scale.
Two identifiers will be mandatory for every shipment:
A third code — a standardised global identifier such as an EAN or GTIN barcode — must be provided where one exists for the product.
Non-compliance risks clearance delays or rejection.
We recommend merchants take the following actions in preparation for these changes:
Glopal provides a comprehensive solution to manage these new complexities without disrupting your operations:
July 1 is weeks away. Contact us to ensure your EU setup is ready from day one.