EU adds EUR 2 per-item handling fee on distance sales from 1 November

Customs authorities collect a Union handling fee of a fixed amount per item for handling requests to place goods sold in distance sales under the release for free circulation procedure.Europa The amount of that fee shall be EUR 2 per itemEuropa, and it shall apply from 1 NovemberEuropa 2026Europa. The customs territory includes customers in those parts where the VAT and excise directives do not apply. The fixed EUR 2 amount is laid down in the Commission delegated act supplementing the Union Customs CodeEuropa, which shall apply from 1 November 2026Europa.

The EUR 2 is charged once per product family defined from the Combined Nomenclature of the European UnionService Public. A parcel containing two toys, one coat and two bottles of perfume therefore carries a EUR 6 charge for three different categories of article, while a parcel containing three T-shirts and one pair of shoes carries EUR 4 for two categories. The categories are determined from the European Combined Nomenclature.

The debtor of the import customs debt pays the fee to the customs authorities competent for the release for free circulation, at least once a month at the moment of payment of the customs debt. Where there is no customs debt, the person who would have been the debtor if there had been one is the debtor for the fee. In distance-sales operations this means the platforms and the sellers that dispatch goods into the Union through distance sales acquit the chargeService Public. Sellers remain free to increase their prices to pass the cost on to their customers.

The amount corresponds to the approximate costs of the services rendered for handling the release request, including at least data verification, risk analysis, relevant infrastructure and controls, including services rendered by the European Union Customs Authority. The Commission draws up a report every two years assessing those approximate costs, covering customs digital systems, clearance staff, controls and post-release work assigned to checking data and performing controls on distance-sales goods, together with Union-financed e-commerce equipment. The amount of the fee is reviewed every two years to track the cost of customs checks.

The handling fee sits on top of the EUR 3 customs duty already applied since July 2026 to distance sales of imported goods in consignments with an intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150Europa. That duty uses the same category principle: the charge is computed by category of article contained in the parcelService Public. Together, a small parcel can therefore carry both the EUR 3 duty per category and, from November, the EUR 2 handling fee per categoryService Public.

The handling fee is non-refundable. It is intended to help cover the costs of customs controls and follow-up and to help customs authorities manage the growing volume of parcels entering the Union. Member States may still set separate charges for other specific services, such as attendance outside office hours or expert analyses, which fall outside this fee.

Legal basis: Article 20 of Règlement (UE) 2026/2108 establishing the Union Customs Code and the European Union Customs Authority, as supplemented for the amount by Article 1 of Règlement délégué (UE) 2026/2152; implementation for small consignments under Règlement d'exécution (UE) 2026/1200.