EU customs duty on low value parcels: the 3 euro duty, the 2 euro fee and what it means for Shein

The EU has ended the 150 euro duty exemption for low value parcels, but in two steps. A temporary flat duty of 3 euros has applied since July 1, 2026, and a separate handling fee of 2 euros per item is set to follow in November 2026. The permanent rule, duty from the first euro of value, waits for the EU customs data hub, planned for 2028.

What the EU actually decided, and when

On November 13, 2025, EU member states reached a political agreement in the Council to remove the 150 euro threshold, and the European Commission welcomed the agreement the same day. The Commission had originally proposed ending the exemption by mid-2028. Member states pushed for 2026, and Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said they wanted action "as soon as possible in 2026," according to Brussels Times.

The data hub was the obstacle. It was not ready, so the Council approved a stopgap. On February 11, 2026, it formally approved a flat customs duty of 3 euros per distinct item category in each parcel, to apply between July 1, 2026 and July 1, 2028, in the Council's wording as reproduced by the European Outdoor Group. Categories are six digit tariff headings, so a parcel holding a T-shirt and a watch owes 6 euros, while a parcel of five T-shirts owes 3.

The Commission's own cost report confirms the result: from July 1, 2026, "the EUR 150 duty relief threshold has been abolished" and the temporary 3 euro duty applies to goods sold in distance sales, and it stops in July 2028.

The handling fee is a different charge

People often merge the duty and the handling fee. They are separate legal measures. The Council's February release says the duty measure is separate from the proposed "handling fee" discussed in the wider customs reform. The fee is set by the new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, and covers customs work: checking data, risk analysis, controls and infrastructure.

On September 21, 2026, the Commission adopted a delegated regulation, C(2026) 6694 final, setting the amount. Article 1 reads that the fee "shall be EUR 2 per item." It enters into force on publication in the Official Journal and applies on the tenth day after that. The Commission's cost report says the fee applies from November 2026 and applies to distance sales regardless of value, so parcels above 150 euros pay it too.

As of October 15, 2026, we found no Official Journal publication. The delegated act is still in its Parliament and Council scrutiny window, which trade analyst FlavorCloud reports ends on October 21 at the latest, with application expected on November 1. Treat November 1 as expected, not guaranteed.

The timeline in one view

The Commission's report lays out what a shipper pays in each period:

• July to October 2026: 3 euros duty, with no handling fee yet.
• November 2026 to June 2028: the 3 euro duty plus the Union handling fee of 2 euros per item.
• July 2028 onward: normal duty calculated on value, origin and tariff classification, plus handling fees.

The units differ. The duty counts item categories in a parcel, while the fee counts items. For a single T-shirt shipped alone, that is 5 euros in charges once both apply. For multi item parcels, check how customs defines an item before assuming a total, because the sources we read do not give a worked example for the fee.

How much volume was at stake

The Commission's report says distance sales grew from an estimated 4.7 billion items in 2024 to about 5.9 billion by the end of 2025, and that items in consignments worth up to 150 euros made up 98 percent of all items imported in 2025. Customs inspected only 65 items per million in 2025, down from about 203 per million in 2022, the same report says. That is the cost the handling fee is meant to cover.

One month of data already shows a response. The Commission's surveillance database recorded 60 percent fewer imported items sold in distance sales in July 2026 than in July 2025, after the 3 euro duty began. The Commission itself calls it premature to draw conclusions from a single month.

What it means for Shein and Temu

Neither company is named in the EU texts. The rules apply to any seller, but the low value, high volume direct to consumer model is the one the Commission describes. Brussels Times, reporting on November 13, 2025, does not mention Shein or Temu either, so any claim that the rule targets them by name is not in the primary record.

The newest trade report is FashionUnited, dated by its URL to October 14, 2026. It describes Shein launching a cooperative logistics service in Spain, its first in Europe, with carriers GLS, FedEx and CTT, linking Spain with Germany, France, Italy and Portugal. It says more than 80 percent of Shein Marketplace sellers in Spain already use the GLS partnership. FashionUnited also reports that parcel volumes dropped sharply while bulk inventory shipments rose, as ultra fast retailers moved from individual parcels to stock held in EU warehouses.

One detail in that article needs care. FashionUnited describes the replacement for the exemption as a transitional flat rate customs handling fee. Per the Commission and Council texts, the transitional charge is a customs duty of 3 euros, and the handling fee is a separate 2 euro charge due later. The direction of its reporting matches the Commission's July data, but the label is imprecise.

Shein's earnings are covered in our report on Shein's first results since its IPO, which looks at how the company describes the customs changes in its own numbers.

What to check before relying on a number

Four points are easy to get wrong.

• The 150 euro threshold is gone for duty, since July 1, 2026, but the permanent value based duty is not in force until the data hub runs, expected in 2028.
• The 3 euro duty is per item category, not per parcel and not per item.
• The 2 euro handling fee is per item and covers consignments over 150 euros too.
• The handling fee date is expected, pending publication of the delegated act.

The duty is owed by the importer of record, so whether a shopper sees a price rise depends on how a platform or seller passes the charge on. The primary documents do not say what any retailer will charge, and we have not seen a retailer publish its pass through.