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Regulatory Radar · European Union · Customs

EU €2 handling fee per item on distance sales from 1 November 2026

Adopted · updated 21 September 2026 · reviewed 23 October 2026 · EU
Next date: 1 Nov 2026

The Commission set the Union handling fee at €2 per item in a delegated act adopted on 21 September 2026; it applies ten days after publication in the Official Journal, and the Commission gives 1 November 2026 as the start. An item groups goods in a declaration sharing the same tariff subheading and origin. German customs applies it per declaration line to distance-sales imports regardless of value, and it comes on top of the €3 duty on consignments under €150 and is subject to VAT. According to Sky TG24, it is not refunded once the declaration is accepted, even if the goods are not released. A separate fee for goods released from customs warehouses applies from 1 July 2028.

For a parcel A single-line parcel under €150 from outside the EU carries at least €5 in EU charges (€3 duty plus €2 fee) before VAT, and the €2 also applies above €150; the operator collecting at the door adds its own service charge.

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Who it hits

Recipients paying on deliveryNon-EU marketplaces and web shopsPostal operatorsExpress carriersCustoms brokers and indirect representativesFreight forwarders consolidating e-commerce

What to prepare

  • Group identical goods on one declaration line: the fee and the duty are counted per item (subheading and origin), not per unit.
  • Decide who pays before the parcel leaves: under prepaid delivery the shipper is billed, otherwise the recipient pays the fee plus the carrier's or post's collection charge at the door.
  • Count refused parcels as a cost: the fee is not refunded once the declaration is accepted.

Our reading

The €2 is often the smaller part of the recipient's bill, next to collection charges of €7.50 to €21.50 at some EU posts and €15 at an express carrier, so the fee mainly accelerates the move to collection at checkout.
End of de minimisEU customs reform

Sources

  1. EU Sets €2 Handling Fee for Small Parcels Under Customs Reform · VATupdate · 2026-09-28
  2. EU Customs Reform · European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union · 2026-10-01
  3. Mini parcels from outside the EU: the handling fee will be 2 euros, plus tariffs of 3 euros · Il Sole 24 Ore · 2026-09
  4. UK Low Value Import Relief to be Removed by October 2028 · Baker McKenzie Global Import Blog · 2026-07-24
  5. EU Sets Union Handling Fee at €2 Per Item, Expected to Apply 1 November 2026 · FlavorCloud · 2026-09-24
  6. Commission Delegated Regulation C(2026) 6694 final on the Union handling fee · European Commission · 2026-09-21
  7. Post and courier consignments from non-EU countries · German customs (Zoll online)
  8. Online purchases, new tax on small parcels from outside the EU: what changes from November · Sky TG24 · 2026-10-20
  9. EU Customs Changes 2026: new €2 handling fee and product identifier requirements from 1 November · DHL · 2026-10-21

Information, not legal advice. Dates come from official texts or quality legal and trade press, and slip often: always check the current text before acting. Back to the full radar.

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