Rotterdam: A new parcel handling fee will start to apply from 1 November 2026, when EU countries begin collecting it on each item bought from a shop outside the Union and shipped directly to a consumer. The fee forms part of the EU Customs Code reform, which the European Parliament approved on 16 September after the Council had already given its consent.

The fee aims to cover the rising cost of handling very large volumes of individual parcels. The party that pays the other customs duties on a parcel also pays the parcel handling fee, so Parliament says sellers and platforms should not pass it on to consumers. The Commission sets the amount and reviews it every two years to keep it in line with actual costs. Shipments consolidated into larger consignments qualify for a reduced fee.

The reform changes who carries responsibility. Sellers and platforms that facilitate distance sales from non-EU countries to EU customers will count as importers. They must give customs authorities the required information, pay or guarantee customs duties and make sure goods comply with EU law. They must also be established in the Union or use an EU-based representative with Authorised Economic Operator or Trusted Economic Operator status, which aims to stop shell companies from getting around the rules.

Enforcement of the parcel handling fee has teeth. Companies that repeatedly break the rules may face fines of 1 percent to 6 percent of the total value of goods they imported over the previous 12 months, and customs authorities can suspend, revoke or cancel a company’s trusted operator status. Non-EU sellers are encouraged to use warehouses inside the Union, because bulk shipments are easier to monitor than millions of single parcels.

Compliant firms receive a reward. A new Trust and Check scheme lets cooperative, certified importers and exporters face fewer checks and enjoy more flexibility in paying duties and taxes, in return for an audit and access to their electronic systems for customs officials. The existing Authorised Economic Operator status stays in place so that smaller operators keep access to a customs status.

Behind the parcel handling fee sits a larger overhaul of customs technology. A new EU Customs Authority based in Lille will manage a pan-European customs IT system, the EU Data Hub, which will replace at least 111 IT systems that national administrations use today. Use of the Data Hub becomes optional from 2031 and mandatory from 2034.

Once the act appears in the Official Journal, it enters into force the following day, and member states must apply the new rules in full 12 months later. The parcel handling fee comes first because governments agreed to collect it by 1 November 2026, well ahead of the main application date.

Retailers, marketplaces and carriers have only days to prepare their systems. The first weeks of collection will show how customs administrations apply the parcel handling fee to consolidated shipments, and how many sellers register as importers. For consumers, the key question is whether the parcel handling fee stays with the party that pays duties, as Parliament insists, or finds its way into checkout prices.