The European Commission has introduced a temporary €3 customs handling duty on low-value parcels entering the EU from outside the bloc, effective 1 July.
The measure applies to each item type worth up to €150 purchased online, marking a further tightening of the regulatory environment for cross-border e-commerce.
This development follows the EU's earlier elimination of the customs exemption for low-value imports, which ended the era of duty-free shopping for online purchases under €150.
The new rules, which took effect on July 1, require VAT and import charges to be collected at the point of sale, shifting the compliance burden to platforms and sellers.
The additional handling fee is likely to increase the final cost for European consumers shopping on non-EU websites, potentially dampening demand for small-ticket items from overseas retailers.
For logistics providers and customs brokers, the fee represents a new revenue stream but also adds administrative complexity to parcel processing.