From the 1st of July 2026, the European Union (EU) is introducing significant changes to customs rules for goods being imported from countries outside the EU, including the UK. The €150 customs duty exemption will be abolished and import duty will apply to every shipment sent to the EU from the 1st of July 2026, with no minimum threshold.
For mail services, these changes mean duties must be paid by the sender or ‘declarant’ (seller, marketplace, representative, or a postal operator), instead of the recipient paying custom duties at the destination post office. The DHL Globalmail service is currently unable to support this process as it does not have a Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) solution, where the fees would be covered by the seller.
As a result, it is necessary to implement a temporary service suspension for the DHL Globalmail service for shipments containing goods to the EU, from the 24th of June 2026.
DHL Express services continue to be available to the EU for shipments containing mail (documents/printed matter).
DHL also say that work has already started on a DDP solution, but they are currently unable to confirm when this will be ready.
- DHL Globalmail services will be temporarily suspended for shipments containing goods to the EU from 24 June 2026
- The last day of collections will be 23 June 2026, and it will no longer be possibe to create labels for EU shipments containing goods after this date. Any shipment containing goods dispatched to the EU after 23 June 2026 will be returned to origin
- Documents and printed matter are not affected and can continue to be sent
- DHL Globalmail services remain available to other destinations
- DHL Express services continue to be available to the EU as usual. Time Definite International products are available.
- To comply with the new regulations, DHL are working on a Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) solution, where all duties, taxes, and import fees are covered upfront by the seller
