On July 1st, the EU is removing the €150 De Minimis Threshold – how will this affect you and what do businesses need to prepare for?

 

General Overview

Why are these changes being introduced?

Currently all shipments with a value less than €150 are duty free into the E.U.

This particularly benefits E-tailers sending individual shipments into the EU. The Commission  is updating its customs framework to better manage the growing volume of low-value eCommerce shipments and improve consistency, compliance, and data accuracy across imports which translates as Duty will be payable on all shipments.

 

Charges and costs

What new import charges are being introduced?

From 1st July 2026, a €3 import duty will be applied per line item on goods valued up to €150 within each shipment. A line item refers to a single product entry in a shipment that is classified under a specific HS code. For example, a shipment with two different product types (e.g.a T-shirt and a Tote bag) will incur two €3 charges (€6 total).

This is specifically designed for B2C e-commerce shipments, primarily those registered under the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS).

From November 2026 there may also be a small EU handling fee per consignment. This is currently under negotiation.

 

Do these charges replace existing duties or fees?

The €3 per line charge replaces the current low-value duty exemption.

 

Important rule change 

What changes on 25th March 2026?

For all shipments valued at €150 or less (B2C and B2B, including IOSS), a Product Identifier must be provided at shipment creation.

 

What is a product identifier?

It has been the case for 2 years that broad descriptions of the contents of an order are insufficient and that specific identifiers are required; these can be:

  • Sku codes
  • HS/Commodity codes
  • Retail platform product references
  • Model numbers
  • Factory codes
  • EAN/UPC/GTIN/ISBN numbers

 

Operational Impact

What should businesses do now?

You should begin preparing for:

  • Capture of product-level identifiers in your systems
  • Review of SKU and product data quality
  • Awareness of new duty and fee structures

 

Final Note

This information is based on current EU guidance and is subject to change. Final implementation details, billing processes, and system requirements will be confirmed closer to rollout.