Edited by By Lorenzo Ontano, Matteo Zovi and Federica Stranieri
On February 18, 2026, Regulation (EU) 2026/382 was published, amending Regulation (EC) No. 1186/2009 regarding the elimination of the customs duty exemption for imports consisting of goods with a value not exceeding EUR 150.
From July 1, 2026, until July, 1, 2028, a provisional Union customs duty of EUR 3 per item will apply to each shipment whose intrinsic value does not exceed a total of EUR 150.
Pursuant to article 1, point 48, of Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, intrinsic value means: “the price of the goods themselves when sold for export to the customs territory of the Union, excluding transport and insurance costs, unless they are included in the price and not separately indicated on the invoice, and any other taxes and charges as ascertainable by the customs authorities from any relevant documents“.
Postal and courier shipments of low value typical of e-commerce will be subject to this regime. According to the European Commission, the volume of small parcels arriving in the EU has doubled every year since 2022. In 2024, 4.6 billion parcels of this type entered the EU market, 91% of which originating from China.
The new provisional customs duty will be collected on each category of item in a parcel, identified by tariff subheadings.
In this regard, the EU Council has provided some interpretative clarifications. For example, it has been clarified that, even when purchasing multiple pieces of the same product, the duty would remain fixed at EUR 3, whereas if a parcel contained, for example, a silk shirt and two wool shirts, it would be subject to a duty of EUR 6 considering the two different tariff subheadings.
From July 1, 2028, once the new Customs Data Hub is established, the duties provided for in the Customs Tariff will apply, depending on the type of goods, to all merchandise entering the European Union.
In the light of this, the reform pursues a dual objective: supporting EU businesses and ensuring greater security and traceability of trade flows.
It remains to be clarified how this measure can be coordinated with the Italian provision of the EUR 2 handling fee for each low-value shipment originating from non-EU countries.
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