As of 1 July 2026, the European Union removed the customs-duty exemption that previously applied to imported goods valued at €150 or less.
For businesses selling from outside the EU, this means that even relatively small parcels can now attract customs duty.
And there’s another deadline coming in November that businesses should already be preparing for.
What changed on 1 July 2026?
Previously, goods imported into the EU with an intrinsic value of €150 or less could benefit from a customs-duty exemption.
That exemption is now gone.
The EU has introduced a temporary €3 customs duty on low-value consignments up to €150, applying from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028.
But there’s an important detail.
It’s not simply €3 per parcel.
The duty is applied according to the distinct categories of goods in the consignment. So when an order contains different types of products, the total duty can be higher than €3.
For international sellers, this makes understanding your products’ customs classification increasingly important.
Why is the EU doing this?
The change is part of a much bigger reform of the EU Customs Union.
The growth of e-commerce has resulted in an enormous increase in small parcels entering Europe. The European Commission says approximately 5.88 billion low-value items entered the EU in 2025.
The EU’s broader objective is to improve customs controls, tackle unsafe or non-compliant goods and create a more level playing field for European businesses.
So this isn’t simply a new fee.
It’s a shift toward more detailed customs oversight of cross-border e-commerce.
Another important deadline: 1 November 2026
The €3 duty isn’t the only thing businesses need to watch.
From 1 November 2026, product identifiers will become mandatory for distance sales of imported goods.
These can include merchant product identifiers, manufacturer identifiers and standardized identifiers such as EANs or ISBNs where applicable.
That means businesses need to start thinking beyond simply writing “clothes” or “electronics” on a customs declaration.
Your product information needs to be accurate, structured and ready for customs processing.
What about VAT?
The customs duty doesn’t replace VAT.
Businesses still need to understand their VAT obligations when selling into the EU, including how their chosen import process handles VAT and customs.
The European Commission’s guidance also confirms that the €3 customs duty can form part of the VAT taxable amount under the relevant import procedure. (Pigee Post)
This is where calculating your true landed cost becomes important.
The price your customer sees isn’t necessarily the final cost of getting that product delivered to them.
proposed handling fee
There’s another change businesses should have on their radar.
The EU is also introducing a Union handling fee for small parcels, but this is separate from the €3 customs duty.
The handling fee is expected to apply from November 2026 at the earliest, so businesses shouldn’t treat it as an additional charge that is already in force today.
But if you’re selling into Europe, it’s worth keeping an eye on.
What does this mean for your business?
The biggest takeaway is simple:
Cross-border shipping is becoming a data game.
It’s no longer enough to know ; Product + box + destination = shipping cost.
Businesses need to consider; Product classification → Customs data → Duties → VAT → Shipping → Landed cost
Getting any of these wrong can lead to unexpected costs, customs delays and frustrated customers.
And that’s where having the right shipping infrastructure matters.
Where Pigee comes in
The new EU rules don’t make international selling impossible.
They make getting the details right more important.
That’s exactly the problem Pigee is built to help businesses solve.
Pigee brings shipping, customs support, carrier options, payments and tracking into one connected workflow.
For international shipments, Pigee can help users prepare key customs information, including commercial invoice details, product descriptions and shipment information required by carriers.
Its customs and duties lookup also lets businesses check destination rules, look up HS commodity codes and estimate duties and taxes before quoting or sending a shipment.
That matters even more as European customs requirements become more data-driven.
Pigee brings it together
Quote → Customs → Pay → Ship → Track
Pigee supports multi-carrier shipping and is designed to connect the different parts of international delivery in one workflow.
Businesses can also check Pigee’s global origin coverage to see available shipping options from different countries and routes.
What should businesses do now?
- Audit your product catalogue
Make sure your product descriptions, values and classifications are accurate.
- Get your product identifiers ready
The 1 November 2026 deadline is approaching. Don’t wait until the requirement becomes mandatory to start cleaning up your product data.
- Review your landed costs
Factor customs duty, VAT, shipping and other applicable charges into your pricing.
- Check your customs process
Make sure your shipping workflow can consistently generate the information carriers and customs authorities need.
- Make international shipping easier for your customers
Your customer shouldn’t have to become a customs expert just because they bought something from you.
A connected shipping platform can make that process much simpler.
The bigger picture
The EU is also moving toward a much broader digital customs system through the EU Customs Data Hub, which is expected to transform how customs data is collected and processed.
So the lesson for international sellers isn’t simply, shipping to Europe is getting more expensive.
It’s shipping to Europe is becoming more sophisticated.
The businesses that get their product data, customs processes and landed costs right will be better positioned to keep selling internationally.
Because your next customer could still be thousands of miles away.
The challenge is making sure distance doesn’t become a barrier to the sale.
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