The EU is reforming its customs union to make procedures more efficient, strengthen security measures and improve risk management across member states. Under the new rules, goods valued under €150 will no longer be exempt from customs duty.
In November 2025, the Council agreed to eliminate the customs duty relief threshold (de minimis), which currently allows goods valued at less than €150 to enter the EU exempt from customs duty. Under the new rules, customs duties will be charged from the first euro of a consignment’s value upon entry into the EU, thereby aligning the system with existing value-added tax rules. The new measure will start to apply once the EU customs data hub becomes operational.
It’s worth noting that the Council has agreed to apply a fixed customs duty of €3 on items contained in small parcels valued at less than €150 entering the EU, largely via e-commerce, from the 1st of July 2026.
To be clear, the €3 duty will apply per item, even if multiple items are shipped within a single consignment.
This temporary measure responds to the fact that such parcels currently enter the EU duty free, , they say leading to unfair competition for EU sellers, health and safety risks for consumers, high levels of fraud and environmental concerns.
The new rules will stay in place until customs data hub, enters into force.
This measure is necessary given the exponential rise in e-commerce. Every day, the EU is flooded with small, low-value packages. According to the European Commission, 4.6 billion e-commerce parcels valued under €150 were imported into the EU in 2024, with 91% of those shipments coming from China.
The duty exemption has made e-commerce increasingly vulnerable to fraud. Many parcels entering the EU are deliberately undervalued in order to exploit this loophole, creating an uneven playing field for EU businesses. It has also encouraged sellers to split larger shipments into smaller ones, thereby increasing packaging waste and raising emissions.
– European Council
