A landmark agreement has been reached by the European Parliament and Council on the reform of EU rules around customs that include new measures to tackle e-commerce from non-EU countries. What will it mean for consumers?
A landmark reform was agreed last week by the European Parliament and Council on EU rules for the import and export of goods in the European market – the so-called EU Customs Code – which will include for the first time measures on e-commerce.
The reform introduces a handling fee for items purchased on online platforms from outside the EU.
It also classifies such platforms as importers, making them responsible for the admin, taxes and the standards of goods they ship to consumers. This should avoid bad surprises in terms of unexpected fees when parcels are delivered.
The objective is to tackle the massive inflow of goods from platforms such as Temu, AliExpress and Shein, which often escape EU quality standards and are difficult to check for customs authorities due to the growing volume of individual packages sent directly to customers.
Last year, some 5.9 billion small parcels were shipped directly to EU consumers from outside the EU, with over 90 per cent originating from China, the European Commission said.
“Many products purchased online from outside the EU do not meet EU standards, raising safety and security concerns,” the Commission added.
Agustín Reyna, director general of European consumer organisation BEUC, said: “Europe has been swamped by a tsunami of packages from China, and customs authorities could simply not cope with this.
“Consumer groups’ tests of products bought on online platforms have revealed toys that can fatally injure children and textiles laced with banned chemicals which can cause serious skin reactions. This reform begins to turn the tide and makes it harder for dangerous products to enter the EU.”
What do the changes mean in practice?
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Handling fee
Under the reform, a new handling fee of €3 will apply to each item ordered from non-EU countries and sent directly to EU consumers. This is meant to cover the increasing customs costs associated with the sheer volume of individual packages.
Member states will start collecting the fee as soon as the necessary IT system becomes available, and no later than November 1st 2026.
The fee will be paid to customs authorities by “the same entity responsible for paying other customs charges” so the administrative burden will be on the platforms.
However consumers will likely bear the cost, so they can expect prices of items they buy online from the above sites to rise.
Customers will however have full visibility on the price they pay for items.
The new handling fee is separate to the €3 flat customs duty on low-value parcels that will take effect in July.
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Importers’ responsibility
As part of the reform, online platforms selling goods from non-EU countries to EU customers will be treated as importers, so they will be responsible for providing the necessary data to customs authorities, pay taxes, and ensure that the goods comply with EU law.
Companies that follow the rules could benefit of a “trust and check” system, with fewer controls and more flexibility on payments.
Those that do not comply could be flagged as high-risk operators and fined 1 to 6 per cent of the total value of goods they imported into the EU in the previous 12 months.
New EU Customs Authority
To put new rules in practice, a new EU Customs Authority, to be established in Lille, France, will set up the EU Customs Data Hub, a digital system that will gather in real time information on the flows of goods in EU countries. This will be launched for e-commerce in 2028, open to all other businesses in 2031 and become mandatory in 2034.