In brief: The European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) has scheduled a scrutiny session for 15 October on the EU’s customs reform, examining the temporary €3 duty on low-value parcels and a new delegated act setting a Union “handling fee,” according to Parliament’s weekly agenda published 10 October.
Since 1 July 2026, the EU has applied a temporary €3 customs duty on e-commerce parcels valued up to €150, introduced under Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 to level the playing field between online imports and bulk retail. The European Commission has separately set a €2 Union handling fee, to apply from 1 November 2026 to all B2C parcels regardless of value, to cover customs authorities’ rising processing costs; combined, importers face a €5-per-item levy from that date. The fees sit within the wider overhaul of the Union Customs Code adopted on 16 September 2026, the first major revision since 1968.
For importers, marketplaces and parcel forwarders shipping low-value goods into the EU, the stacked €5 charge adds a fixed cost to every parcel regardless of declared value, and the 15 October hearing will be the first parliamentary airing of how the fee is calculated and applied.
Source: European Parliament.