EU Customs Duty 1 July 2026: €3 Fee on Parcels Under €150 Now in Force – What Sellers and Importers Need to Know
Published: 4 July 2026 | LKOS Law Office Oy
The EU's new fixed €3 customs duty on low-value consignments took effect on 1 July 2026. Every goods item in a shipment valued at €150 or less now attracts the fee – including shipments from sellers registered under the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), which previously entered the EU duty-free. For e-commerce sellers, marketplaces, freight forwarders and importers, the change is no longer something to prepare for: it is live, and it directly affects pricing, customs declarations and contractual liability.
This article is a practical follow-up to our earlier updates in the EU customs reform series, including EU Customs Reform Update: €3 duty for parcels under €150 from 1 July 2026 (IOSS).
What changed on 1 July 2026?
Until the end of June 2026, consignments valued at €150 or less were in practice exempt from customs duty under the de minimis rule. As of 1 July 2026, that exemption no longer operates in the same way: a fixed €3 customs duty is charged on every goods item in consignments valued at up to €150.
The duty is based on Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 and forms part of the wider EU customs reform. It is a transitional measure, applied until the EU Customs Data Hub enables product-specific duty calculation for low-value consignments as well (expected from 2028 onwards).
Import VAT is unaffected: it continues to be levied as before, in addition to the new duty.
How the €3 duty is calculated – the goods item is decisive
The fee is not charged per parcel but per goods item in the customs declaration. A goods item covers products that share the same commodity code (tariff heading) and the same country of origin.
In practice:
One goods item = €3. Two identical shirts from China form a single goods item, and the duty is €3.
Different products = several goods items. A shirt and a pair of socks in the same shipment are declared as separate goods items, and the total duty is €6. Three different products mean €9, and so on.
Declaration practice matters commercially. Identical products can, for technical reasons, be declared as separate goods items – in which case the duty is charged on each. How a marketplace, seller or forwarder structures its declarations therefore feeds directly into landed cost. For businesses shipping at volume, reviewing and optimising goods item structures is one of the most immediate savings opportunities the new regime creates.
Transitional rule: orders placed in June, arriving in July
The decisive moment is neither the order date, the shipping date nor the arrival date, but the date the customs declaration is accepted:
- If the declaration was accepted on or before 30 June 2026, no duty is charged – even if clearance is completed and the parcel released in July.
- If the declaration is accepted on or after 1 July 2026, the €3 duty applies.
A declaration counts as accepted once it has been assigned an MRN reference number (in Finland, beginning 26FI in 2026). The clearance does not need to be finalised – successful lodging with Customs is sufficient.
Who bears the cost – seller, marketplace or buyer?
The answer depends on the seller's IOSS status:
Seller registered under IOSS: the seller or its intermediary lodges the declaration and pays both the duty and import VAT. From 1 July 2026, the buyer can no longer self-clear such a shipment. Commercially, the cost flows into the product price or appears as a separate charge at checkout – major platforms have already adjusted their pricing.
Seller not registered under IOSS: the buyer clears the parcel (or the carrier does so on the buyer's behalf) and pays the duty and import VAT at clearance.
For businesses, the allocation of this cost is ultimately a matter of contract and delivery model: who acts as importer of record, which Incoterms rule applies, and how the cost is built into pricing. The new duty is small per item, but across high-volume flows an unclear allocation quickly shows up in margins, customer disputes and chargebacks. Seller agreements, marketplace terms and freight forwarding contracts should state expressly who bears the duty and who is responsible for the declaration structure. We advise on these questions as part of our customs services.
Shipments above €150
Nothing changed. Consignments valued above €150 continue to attract duty according to the applicable tariff heading, plus import VAT, exactly as before.
Why the EU introduced the fee
The background is the rapid growth of low-value imports and its side effects: an uneven playing field for EU-based sellers, undervaluation and fraud risks, product safety concerns, and the environmental burden of consignment splitting. The fixed fee is a fast instrument to address these before the reform's larger structures – the EU Customs Agency (2028) and the EU Customs Data Hub (2032–2037) – come online.
Compliance checklist now that the duty is live
Many companies prepared in advance – now is the moment to confirm the change has been implemented end to end:
- Pricing and margin models: is the €3 per-goods-item duty (and the e-commerce handling fee arriving in November 2026) reflected in prices and landed-cost calculations?
- Goods item structure: are your shipments being declared in more goods items than necessary? Optimising declaration practice reduces cost directly.
- Contracts and Incoterms: do your customer, marketplace and forwarding agreements state clearly who acts as importer of record and who bears the duty?
- IOSS processes: if you are an IOSS-registered seller or act as an intermediary, confirm that declaration and payment flows operate correctly under the new model – buyers can no longer self-clear IOSS shipments.
- Electronic service of decisions (Finland): as a reminder, from the beginning of 2026 Finnish Customs decisions are deemed served as soon as they are available in the electronic system – appeal and review periods start running immediately. Monitoring responsibilities should be assigned.
Frequently asked questions
Does the €3 duty apply to all consignments under €150?
The duty applies to consignments valued at up to €150 arriving from outside the EU where the customs declaration is accepted on or after 1 July 2026. It is charged per goods item, so a parcel containing several different products can attract more than €3 in total.
Do IOSS-registered sellers pay the duty on behalf of buyers?
Yes. Where the seller is registered under IOSS, the seller or its intermediary lodges the declaration and pays the duty and import VAT. From 1 July 2026, buyers can no longer self-clear IOSS shipments. Where the seller is not IOSS-registered, the buyer pays the duty and VAT at clearance.
Did import VAT change at the same time?
No. Import VAT continues to be levied as before. The €3 duty is a customs duty charged in addition to VAT.
Is the €3 duty permanent?
No. It is a transitional measure. As the next phases of the EU customs reform proceed (EU Customs Agency in 2028, EU Customs Data Hub in 2032–2037), duties on low-value consignments will be calculated on a product-specific basis.
What if an order was placed in June but arrives in July?
The date the customs declaration is accepted is decisive. A declaration accepted by 30 June 2026 (MRN reference assigned) attracts no duty; a declaration accepted on or after 1 July 2026 does.
What is the legal basis for the new duty?
Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, together with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 (Annex B) under the Union Customs Code. The measure forms part of the wider EU customs reform.
How LKOS Law Office can help
We advise international sellers, marketplaces, freight forwarders and importers on customs clearance, tariff classification, import models and the contractual allocation of customs costs – from pricing updates to liability clauses in forwarding and platform agreements. Explore our customs services, or contact Oscari Seppälä or Liene Krumina directly.
This article is a general overview and does not constitute legal advice on any individual matter.