EU duty, handling fee and product identifiers

If your parcels enter the EU from outside, the duty, the handling fee and the product identifiers have changed or are about to change at the border. The duty and the fee are charged per customs declaration line rather than per parcel.

The 3 euro duty, since 1 July 2026

The duty-free treatment for consignments up to 150 euros from outside the EU ended on 1 July 2026. In its place comes a flat 3 euro customs duty, planned to run until 1 July 2028. It is charged per customs declaration line, whatever the number of articles on that line. Identical goods with the same tariff code and the same origin can share one line: three identical T-shirts are one line and 3 euros; a T-shirt and a belt are two lines and 6 euros. The Commission's guidance states the per-line rule in those terms; the shirts and the belt are our illustration.

The 2 euro handling fee, expected from 1 November 2026

On top of the duty comes a Union handling fee of 2 euros, set by Delegated Regulation C(2026) 6694 of 21 September 2026. It applies to goods sold at a distance and imported from outside the EU, above and below 150 euros. For the fee, an "item" means goods sharing the same tariff classification and origin, and the Commission's guidance applies the fee per customs declaration line, like the duty. It is expected to apply from 1 November 2026, once the delegated act has cleared scrutiny and been published; until then the date is not final.

VAT is due on the fee. Under the import one-stop shop, a fee charged to the consumer goes into the IOSS return. If the goods come back, the VAT on the fee is refunded but the fee itself is not. From 1 November 2026 declarants add the TARIC document code Y126 on H1, H6 and H7 declarations. Business-to-business imports are out of scope. Two national fees sit alongside, as reported: France's own 2 euro parcel tax has been suspended since 1 July 2026, and Italy's was postponed to 1 December 2026.

Each customs declaration line pays once: three identical shirts pay once, a shirt and a belt pay twice.

The product identifiers, from 1 November 2026

This is the change that touches your product data rather than your invoice. Under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1200, from 1 November 2026, every B2C distance-sale import, whatever its value, has to carry product identifiers in the Supporting Documents data element of the declaration. The declaration carries three codes and, where needed, one exception code. C127 is the merchant product identifier, your own product reference, mandatory. C128 is the manufacturer's own model or SKU number, mandatory. C129 is a standard identifier (GTIN, EAN, UPC or ISBN), required where one exists. Y081 declares that no standard identifier exists; a generic product description on its own no longer passes.

Stock already in the EU and shipped to EU consumers is not caught. At least one carrier requires the identifiers in its interface from 25 October 2026, a week ahead of the rule, so check the date your own carrier applies.

Steps before November

Each product needs three fields in the system that generates your customs data: your own reference, the manufacturer's model number, and the GTIN where you have one. If a product has no GTIN and no other standard code, the declaration carries the exception code, which is allowed. GTIN, SGTIN or batch explains how to get a GTIN licensed if you want one. On Next Horizon these three identifiers are fields on the product record and travel with the shipment data to whoever files the declaration, so they are entered once, in the catalogue.

For the duty and the fee, the work is in how you group lines. Identical goods on one line pay once; a careless declaration that splits them pays several times. Where we re-invoice transport, both charges appear at cost on their own lines, as Billing for shipping describes; where your carrier bills you directly, they appear on the carrier's invoice.