EU €2 handling fee starts November 1

The EU’s €2 Union handling fee starts November 1, 2026. It applies per customs item to goods sold online to EU customers and imported from outside the EU. For low-value orders, it can apply alongside the separate €3 customs duty.

What changed on October 7?

The European Commission’s customs-reform page now says the €2 fee will apply from November 1. This replaces the start-date-pending position in our original September 23 article.

The Commission also published guidance dated October 5 for customs authorities and businesses. It covers the fee’s scope, how customs counts an item, who is responsible for the declaration and how the fee is collected.

The guidance describes November 1 as the expected application date because the delegated act applies ten days after it enters into force. The Commission’s public customs page states the date directly. Buyers should plan around November 1 and confirm their provider’s cutover for shipments already moving.

What did the EU adopt?

The new Union Customs Code establishes a handling fee for goods sold in distance sales and released into the EU. A distance sale is typically an online order sold to an EU customer and shipped from outside the EU.

The Code created the fee, but left the amount for the Commission to set. The Commission’s September 21 delegated act sets it at €2 per customs item. Its explanatory memorandum says distance sales above €150 are covered too.

“Per item” does not simply mean per parcel

Under the Code, one customs item can contain one or more goods that share the same tariff classification, description and, where required, origin. The count therefore follows the customs data for the consignment. It is not automatically one fee for every physical unit, and it is not always one fee for the whole parcel.

If a supplier, platform or carrier gives you a fee estimate, ask how many customs items it expects to declare and how it arrived at that count.

Is this the same as the €3 customs duty?

No. They are separate charges.

Once the €2 fee starts, a qualifying low-value order can face both the €3 duty and the €2 handling fee. VAT, ordinary customs duties and carrier charges may also apply under their own rules.

Does this cover bulk inventory imports?

Not automatically. The fee is tied to goods sold in distance sales. If you import stock in bulk before selling it, ask your customs representative whether that entry falls within the distance-sale rules instead of assuming that every e-commerce business pays the fee on every import.

When will the €2 fee start?

The Commission says the fee starts November 1, 2026. Its October guidance explains that application begins ten days after the delegated act enters into force.

Use November 1 as the planning date. Ask your platform, postal operator, carrier or customs representative whether it will apply the fee based on the declaration date, arrival date or another operational cutoff.

What should I ask my platform or shipping provider?

• Does this order count as a distance sale under the EU rule?
• Who will be the customs debtor or declarant for the shipment?
• How many customs items will appear in the declaration?
• Will the €2 fee appear at checkout, in the shipping price or on a later invoice?
• Which shipments will the provider treat as falling on or after November 1?

The Code ties the legal fee to the person responsible for the customs debt. During the transition, that can be the customs declarant. The final consumer is not intended to be the legal debtor, although a seller, platform or shipping provider may still build the cost into its price or service charges.

What is still unsettled?

The adopted act does not set the lower fee planned from July 2028 for qualifying goods released from a customs warehouse for distance sales.

It also does not tell each platform, postal operator or carrier how to display or pass through the fee. Their billing arrangements and shipment cutoffs may differ. Check your provider’s terms before changing checkout or landed-cost calculations.

The Commission guidance is explanatory rather than legally binding. EU legislation published in the Official Journal takes precedence if the two differ.