The EU abolishes an outdated customs duty exemption for e-commerce packages worth less than €150. The measure will help to ensure fair conditions for EU businesses and safe choices for consumers, in response to the surge of billions of low-value e-commerce goods entering the EU. Goods coming from third countries bought online and shipped directly to consumers will now pay a €3 customs duty per item.
The €150 customs duty exemption was designed for an era of occasional online purchases and less digitalised customs systems. This no longer fits reality, and its removal corrects a long-standing structural imbalance for EU enterprises. Across Europe, town high streets are becoming increasingly deserted, undermining local job opportunities and weakening community life. From an environmental perspective, the fast-paced e-commerce model contributes to packaging waste and carbon-heavy logistics, with frequent returns and long-distance shipping doubling transport pollution.
This measure restores fairness across importers, ensuring that EU retailers importing in bulk, and large-scale non-EU online operators compete under the same regulatory conditions.
European consumers are not responsible for paying the duties to the customs authorities.
Duties are collected by the customs authorities from the platforms, or any other business involved in the sale and transportation of the imported goods. Consumers buying online are therefore spared from additional payment at delivery.
Know more.
The €150 customs duty exemption was designed for an era of occasional online purchases and less digitalised customs systems. This no longer fits reality, and its removal corrects a long-standing structural imbalance for EU enterprises. Across Europe, town high streets are becoming increasingly deserted, undermining local job opportunities and weakening community life. From an environmental perspective, the fast-paced e-commerce model contributes to packaging waste and carbon-heavy logistics, with frequent returns and long-distance shipping doubling transport pollution.
This measure restores fairness across importers, ensuring that EU retailers importing in bulk, and large-scale non-EU online operators compete under the same regulatory conditions.
European consumers are not responsible for paying the duties to the customs authorities.
Duties are collected by the customs authorities from the platforms, or any other business involved in the sale and transportation of the imported goods. Consumers buying online are therefore spared from additional payment at delivery.
Know more.
