For years the rule was simple. A consignment arriving from outside the EU with an intrinsic value of EUR 150 or less came in free of customs duty. That relief no longer exists. Import duty from China now starts at the first cent of value, and a parcel that carried no duty in 2024 carries duty today.
Much of what is published online still calls this a 2028 reform proposal. That is out of date. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 was adopted on 11 February 2026 and published in the Official Journal on 18 February 2026. It deletes Chapter V of Title II of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009 outright: Articles 23 and 24, the relief for consignments of negligible value, are repealed. Member States, in the Commission's wording, agreed to act faster than initially proposed and applied the measure already in 2026.
What replaced the relief: a EUR 3 flat duty until 1 July 2028
In place of the relief the regulation puts a transitional flat duty on consignments of intrinsic value EUR 150 or less sold by distance sale from a third country. It runs from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028 and can be extended: an IT-readiness review is due by 1 December 2027, and trade diversion is monitored monthly from 1 October 2026. Because the duty is fixed rather than ad valorem, no customs value determination is needed for the duty itself, though value still sets the VAT base.
The EUR 3 is charged per tariff line, not per parcel
This is the single most misunderstood point in the whole change, and the one that decides what a shipment costs. An item, for this purpose, means the goods in a consignment that share the same tariff classification, description and, where given, origin. The duty applies per declaration line, in an H7 or H6 declaration, regardless of quantity.
The Council's own example: one silk blouse and two wool blouses fall under two tariff sub-headings, so the duty is EUR 6. Not EUR 3, because there are two lines. Not EUR 9, because quantity does not matter.
Estonia's tax and customs board applies the same logic, and its example goes further. Three garments under three different commodity codes in one parcel produce EUR 9 of duty, with VAT then calculated on the duty-inclusive value.
Quantity does not increase the duty. Distinct commodity codes do. Ten identical T-shirts in one parcel are one line and EUR 3; three different garments are three lines and EUR 9. The number of commodity codes in a consignment is now a price, and consolidating SKUs under fewer tariff lines is a legitimate optimisation that did not exist in 2024.
What a parcel actually costs now
Put a value on the EMTA example. Three garments, three commodity codes, EUR 60 of goods. Duty is EUR 9. The VAT base is the duty-inclusive value, so EUR 69, and Estonian VAT at the standard rate of 24% is EUR 16.56. Total charges are EUR 25.56 on EUR 60 of goods. In 2024 the duty on the same parcel would have been zero.
The components, in the order they bite:
- Every parcel from a third country must be declared. There is no value below which the declaration disappears, and special territories such as Aland, the Canaries, the French overseas departments and Mount Athos count as third countries
- Duty: EUR 3 for each distinct commodity code in the consignment, for distance sales of EUR 150 or less
- Import VAT: charged from the first cent since the old EUR 22 exemption ended on 1 July 2021. In Estonia the standard rate has been 24% since 1 July 2025
- The VAT base includes the duty, so the two charges compound rather than sit side by side
- A per-parcel handling fee is coming by 1 November 2026, with the amount not yet fixed
Which declaration applies, and who is liable
H7, the simplified low-value declaration, still covers distance sales of EUR 150 or less with no prohibitions or restrictions, plus non-commercial gifts under EUR 45 and consumer-to-consumer consignments under additional procedure code C08. H1 is mandatory where preference is claimed or the goods face prohibitions, restrictions or excise, and EMTA identifies cases where business parcels move to H1 with standard tariff rates.
Liability follows a cascade that starts with the IOSS holder or its indirect representative, passes through the special-arrangements user and the importer's indirect representative, and reaches the consumer only last, and only where the Member State offers a free online tool. Repeat declarants also need a comprehensive guarantee.
Returns: the duty does not come back easily
This one is quietly expensive. Once goods are released you cannot invalidate the declaration to reclaim the EUR 3 under the Article 148(3) UCC-DA simplification. Only the general Article 116 repayment route in the Union Customs Code is open, and that is a case-by-case application, not an automatic reversal.
For most small sellers that makes duty on returns unrecoverable, because claiming it costs more than the amount. Multiply your return rate by your average number of tariff lines per order and you have the annual cost. In clothing it is a real budget line, not a rounding error.
The handling fee: agreed in principle, amount not set
A second charge is coming, and it is not the EUR 3 duty. The handling fee sits in the customs reform package, not in Regulation 2026/382, and the Council was explicit that the two are distinct. It was proposed in the Council's June 2025 negotiating mandate and confirmed in the provisional deal of 26 March 2026. The amount will be set by a Commission delegated act, Member States must apply it no later than 1 November 2026, and the level is reassessed every two years.
You will see figures of EUR 2 for direct-to-consumer parcels and EUR 0.50 for goods shipped from an EU warehouse. Those come from negotiating documents. The lower warehouse rate is confirmed in principle by Parliament as an incentive to ship in bulk into EU fulfilment centres, but no figures appear in the adopted text. Treat EUR 2 and EUR 0.50 as indicative only: a reasonable planning assumption, not law. Do not build a pricing model that breaks if the delegated act says something else.
Who pays matters as much as how much. The fee falls on the deemed importer, the non-EU platform or distance seller, not the consumer at the door. Several Member States moved first with national fees: Romania about RON 25, roughly EUR 5, since 1 January 2026; Italy EUR 2 from 1 January 2026, reportedly held until July 2026; France EUR 2 proposed in the 2026 Finance Act. The Netherlands abandoned its plan on 13 January 2026 and Belgium withdrew.
What happens after 1 July 2028
The flat duty is a bridge, not a destination. From 1 July 2028 these consignments face normal ad valorem TARIC duties, assessed through the EU Data Hub, which becomes mandatory for e-commerce that day. If your product carries a 12% tariff rate, that is what you will pay. Product Identifiers become mandatory earlier, from 1 November 2026.
The wider reform is close to final. The Council gave its final approval on 3 September 2026, the European Parliament vote was expected later that month, and general application follows 12 months after publication in the Official Journal. As this is written it is not yet law, but it is effectively settled. The EU Customs Authority was sited in Lille in March 2026, is due to be operational in 2027, and enforcement includes penalties of up to 6% of the annual value of imported goods.
One caution on sources. Published national guidance does not always carry consistent dates, and the EMTA page refers to an adoption date that does not match the Council and Parliament timeline. Where dates conflict, rely on the Council record and the Official Journal.
If you buy inside the EU or sell services, none of this touches you
Worth saying plainly, because the volume of coverage suggests otherwise. If your company sells services, or buys everything it resells inside the EU, this change does not affect you at all. No customs declaration, no EUR 3, no handling fee, no EORI for this purpose. Nor does anything change for goods already in free circulation: buying from a German wholesaler who imported the stock themselves is an intra-EU purchase, wherever the goods were made.
Frequently asked questions
Has the EU removed the EUR 150 customs threshold?
Yes. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, adopted on 11 February 2026, repealed the duty relief for consignments of negligible value with effect from 1 July 2026. Material describing this as a 2028 proposal is out of date. A transitional EUR 3 flat duty applies until 1 July 2028.
Is the EUR 3 customs fee charged per parcel or per item?
Per tariff line, which in practice means per distinct commodity code in the consignment. Quantity is irrelevant. Ten identical shirts are one line and EUR 3; three different garments under three codes are three lines and EUR 9.
How much duty do I pay on a parcel from China to Estonia in 2026?
For distance sales of EUR 150 or less, EUR 3 for each distinct commodity code, plus import VAT at 24% calculated on the duty-inclusive value. On EMTA's example of three garments under three codes, that is EUR 9 of duty before VAT is added.
Can I get the EUR 3 duty back if the goods are returned?
Not through the usual route. After release you cannot invalidate the declaration under the Article 148(3) UCC-DA simplification to reclaim it. Only the general Article 116 repayment procedure applies, so for small amounts the duty on returns is effectively unrecoverable.
How much is the new parcel handling fee?
The amount is not set. It will be fixed by a Commission delegated act and must be applied by Member States no later than 1 November 2026. Figures of EUR 2 direct-to-consumer and EUR 0.50 from an EU warehouse circulate from negotiating documents, but no figures are in the adopted text, so treat them as indicative only.
Does the EUR 3 duty apply to parcels from anywhere outside the EU?
It applies to distance sales of EUR 150 or less from any third country, not only China. Special territories such as the Canaries, Aland, the French overseas departments and Mount Athos count as third countries for this purpose, so parcels from them are declared in the same way.
TagsEUR 150 customs thresholdimport duty from ChinaEUR 3 flat dutyparcel handling feeimport VAT
General information, not tax advice
This article reflects Estonian law as it stands on the date shown. Rules change and individual circumstances differ - confirm your own position with us before acting.