From 1 July 2026, the European Union (EU) will remove the customs duty exemption for low-value consignments with a total value of €150 or less. At the same time, it will introduce a flat rate customs duty of €3 on goods that consumers (private individuals) purchase through e-commerce.
This decision was taken at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) meeting on 12 December 2025, in response to the rapidly growing volume of goods bought through e-commerce and shipped to the EU.
The current exemption from import customs duties for low-value consignments creates an uneven playing field for EU wholesale businesses, which do not benefit from such relief. In addition, these consignments are often linked to fraud and can pose risks to consumer health, safety and the environment. For these reasons, an urgent decision was taken to apply a simple and temporary measure, which will remain in place until permanent rules for low-value imports are implemented.
The €3 fixed customs duty will apply to each type of goods included in a low-value consignment (for example, if a consignment contains one pair of shoes, two dolls and five cotton T-shirts, €9 in customs duty will be payable).
The €3 fixed customs duty will apply where goods are purchased and dispatched from non-EU countries, in the following cases:
- where import VAT is paid using the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) (VAT is paid at the time of purchase);
- where the special arrangements for the declaration and payment of import VAT apply (VAT is paid by the carrier of the consignment);
- and where neither the above VAT scheme nor the special arrangements apply.