Lille: The EU will start collecting the Union handling fee on low-value parcels on 1 November 2026, adding EUR 2 per item to online purchases that enter the single market from outside the bloc. The Commission confirmed the date in a customs news item on 7 October 2026, and the fee is the second step in a package that began on 1 July.

On that earlier date, the EUR 150 duty exemption ended. A temporary flat customs duty of EUR 3 per item now applies to consignments worth up to EUR 150 bought through distance sales. That interim duty, set by Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, will run until 1 July 2028. The Union handling fee sits on top of it and comes with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2403 on guarantees and data elements.

The scale of the problem explains the policy. According to the Commission, 5.9 billion low-value items entered the EU in 2025, four times the 2022 volume, and more than 90 percent came from China. Customs officers cannot inspect that flow item by item, and the Commission argues that duty-free treatment gave remote sellers an edge over shops that import in bulk and have always paid duty.

The Union handling fee is also meant to pay for the controls behind the flow. Importers that use a customs warehouse will qualify for a lower rate from 2028, which gives sellers a reason to build European logistics rather than ship each parcel from abroad. Traders should check how the Union handling fee interacts with product identifiers, which become mandatory for e-commerce imports from 1 November 2026, according to industry guidance.

Behind these measures stands the wider customs reform. Parliament and the Council formally adopted the new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, on 16 September 2026, and it entered into force on 21 September. It creates an EU Customs Authority in Lille, with about 285 staff, which is due to be established in 2027 and will manage a central EU Customs Data Hub.

The data hub follows a staged calendar. E-commerce operators gain access in 2028, and use becomes mandatory for distance-sales imports on 1 July 2028. Voluntary use opens to other businesses in 2031, and the hub becomes mandatory for all traders in 2034. The Commission expects savings of more than EUR 2 billion a year for member states and EUR 2.7 billion a year in compliance costs for businesses.

Marketplaces and couriers now have days, not months, to prepare. Systems must calculate the Union handling fee per item, record it correctly and settle it with the right authority. Consumers will see the effect at the checkout, where cheap imports will cost more than they did a year ago.

The Union handling fee therefore marks the point at which the customs reform leaves the Official Journal and reaches ordinary shoppers.