--- title: "EU €2 customs handling fee: what changes for e-commerce sellers" description: The EU €2 customs handling fee is expected from 1 November 2026, on top of the €3 duty on parcels up to €150. What it means for UK, US and EU-based sellers. image: https://www.axholdinggroup.com/hubfs/blog/eu-customs-handling-fee.jpg --- [![AX Holding Group](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/hubfs/Ax%20Holding%20group%20Logo.png)](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en?hsLang=en) [Service Hub](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en?hsLang=en#servicios) [AX Holding Group](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/about?hsLang=en) [Blog](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog)[ES](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/es/blog/tasa-gestion-aduanera-2-euros-ecommerce-ue)[EN](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog/eu-customs-handling-fee) [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/34653695933?text=Hi%2C%20I%E2%80%99d%20like%20more%20information%20about%20AX%20Holding%20Group) [Contact](mailto:info@axservicehub.com) [Log in](https://dashboard.axholdinggroup.com/) [Service Hub](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en?hsLang=en#servicios) [AX Holding Group](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/about?hsLang=en) [Blog](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog)[ES](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/es/blog/tasa-gestion-aduanera-2-euros-ecommerce-ue)[EN](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog/eu-customs-handling-fee) [Blog](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog) · EU regulations # EU €2 customs handling fee: what changes for e-commerce sellers 8 October 2026 · Ax Holding Group™ ![Cardboard box with a customs document and the tags customs handling fee, low-value parcels, direct shipments and stock in the EU, next to the title ‘EU customs handling fee’](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/hubfs/blog/eu-customs-handling-fee.jpg) Quick answer The EU’s new Union handling fee is **€2 per item** on goods sold to EU consumers and shipped to them from outside the EU, whatever their value. The European Commission adopted the amount on 21 September 2026 and expects the fee to apply from **1 November 2026**, once the act is published, provided neither the European Parliament nor the Council objects. It comes on top of the **€3 customs duty per item** that has applied since 1 July 2026 to consignments worth up to €150, and product identifiers also become mandatory on 1 November. Orders shipped from stock already imported into the EU, such as FBA inventory in Spain or Germany, pay neither charge. The EU stopped exempting low-value parcels from customs duty on 1 July 2026, and a second charge is about to follow. If you ship orders to EU customers from the UK, the US or China, through FBM or, from the UK, Amazon’s Remote Fulfilment, every order up to €150 now carries a fixed customs duty per item, and from November every order is expected to carry the €2 fee. If your stock is already in the EU, the picture is different. These are the amounts, the dates, the status of each measure and what to check. ## What is the EU €2 handling fee? It is a fixed fee that EU customs authorities collect for handling the release for free circulation of goods sold in distance sales: goods sold to a consumer in the EU and sent to them from outside the EU by or on behalf of the seller. Article 20 of the new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, published on 19 September 2026, creates the fee. A separate Commission delegated regulation, C(2026) 6694, adopted on 21 September 2026, sets the amount, and its Article 1 is one line: the fee “shall be EUR 2 per item”. - **Amount:** €2 per item. An item is the goods in a consignment that share the same tariff classification, description and, where declared, origin. In practice, customs charge it per declaration line, whatever the quantity on that line. - **Who pays:** the declarant, usually the holder of the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) registration or an indirect customs representative. The consumer only declares, and pays, in residual cases. - **Which shipments:** all distance sales imported into the EU, **including consignments worth more than €150**. Customers in special territories such as the Canary Islands are included. - **Refunds:** none. The fee is non-refundable, and Dutch customs give failed deliveries, refused parcels and returns as examples. - **When:** from the tenth day after the delegated act enters into force, which happens when it is published in the Official Journal of the EU. The European Parliament and the Council have 30 days from notification to object; the Council received it on 21 September 2026. The Commission and Dutch customs both give 1 November 2026 as the expected start. From 1 July 2028 there will also be a lower fee for goods sold from a new type of customs warehouse for distance sales. Its amount has not been set yet. ## How does the €3 customs duty work? Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 removed the customs duty relief for consignments worth up to €150 from 1 July 2026. Until 1 July 2028, goods sold to EU consumers in consignments worth up to €150 pay a flat customs duty of **€3 per item** instead. The Commission’s guidance says it applies whatever the VAT scheme (IOSS, special arrangements or standard VAT). Other low-value consignments, such as business-to-business shipments, now pay normal duty rates. After 1 July 2028, normal duty rates will apply to distance sales too. The duty counts items, not units. The Commission’s own examples: a parcel with five T-shirts pays €3 (one item); a parcel with one T-shirt and one watch pays €6 (two items). You can’t group different lines under the highest duty rate to reduce the number of items. One exception matters for UK sellers. Goods that qualify for preferential tariff treatment under a trade agreement can be declared at their preferential rate instead of €3, but only on a full customs declaration and only if the VAT wasn’t collected through the IOSS. When the VAT on a sale is collected through the IOSS, as with the FBM orders up to €150 that Amazon requires you to ship under its IOSS number, the €3 applies. The preferential route only helps if your goods meet the agreement’s origin rules, which goods made in China and shipped from the UK normally don’t; the €2 fee applies either way. Check with your customs adviser. ## How much do the fixed charges add per order? An example for orders shipped from outside the EU straight to the customer, adding both charges once the handling fee applies. It doesn’t include VAT or carrier and customs broker charges. VAT is charged on top of both: the Commission’s guidance confirms the handling fee is part of the VAT taxable amount. | Order | Items (declaration lines) | €3 duty | €2 fee | Fixed total | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 5 identical T-shirts, under €150 | 1 | €3 | €2 | €5 | | 1 T-shirt and 1 watch, under €150 | 2 | €6 | €4 | €10 | | 5 products under different tariff codes, under €150 | 5 | €15 | €10 | €25 | | 2 products under different tariff codes, over €150 | 2 | Normal duty rate | €4 | Duty + €4 | For a €12 product shipped on its own, €5 of fixed charges is more than 40% of its price. That is why the one-parcel-per-order model from outside the EU loses much of its edge over stock already imported into the EU. ## Key dates | Date | What happens | | --- | --- | | 1 July 2026 | The €150 duty relief ends and the €3 duty per item starts. Product identifiers can be declared voluntarily. | | 19 September 2026 | The new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, is published. It enters into force the next day. | | 21 September 2026 | The Commission adopts the delegated act setting the handling fee at €2 per item. | | 1 October 2026 | Deadline for the Commission’s first assessment of whether trade is being diverted to avoid the €3 duty. It must repeat it every month and, if it finds diversion, propose applying the €3 duty to all goods in consignments up to €150. | | 1 November 2026 | Product identifiers become mandatory. Expected start of the €2 handling fee. | | 1 July 2028 | The €3 flat duty ends and normal duty rates apply. The EU Customs Data Hub becomes mandatory for e-commerce imports, and a lower handling fee applies to customs warehouses for distance sales. | ## Which product identifiers are mandatory from 1 November? From 1 November 2026, each item in a distance sale imported in a consignment worth up to €150 must be declared with product identifiers (PIDs). They have been voluntary since 1 July, with no penalties. The Commission’s guidance, in its version of 5 October 2026, asks for three: - **Merchant PID (M-PID):** the identifier assigned by the online seller, marketplace or platform, unique across that platform. Always required. - **Non-standardised manufacturer PID (NS-PID):** the manufacturer’s or supplier’s own product reference. Always required. - **Standardised PID (S-PID):** an identifier that follows an international standard, such as an EAN, only where one exists. If there isn’t one, an exception code is declared. Deliberately reporting identifiers at batch or unit level when one exists at model level counts as an infringement. The legal text doesn’t mention the €150 limit yet; the guidance says the Commission is amending it to make that explicit. For FBM orders shipped under Amazon’s IOSS, Amazon already asks you to give your carrier the ASIN details for each product. ## What it means for UK and US sellers, and for stock already in the EU The charges follow how the goods reach the customer, not where your business is based: | How the order reaches an EU customer | €3 duty | €2 handling fee | What to know | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | FBM from the UK, the US or China, shipped straight to the customer, up to €150 | Yes, per item | Yes, from its start date | Amazon requires a carrier authorised to use Amazon’s IOSS number; the carrier invoices you the duty. Keep shipping Delivered Duty Paid | | Same, consignment over €150 | No: normal duty rate | Yes | Full customs declaration | | Remote Fulfilment with FBA from UK fulfilment centres, up to €150 | Yes: Amazon adds it to the customer-facing price | Yes, as a distance sale | Check Seller Central for how Amazon will apply the €2 fee | | Stock imported in bulk into the EU (FBA, Pan-EU or a 3PL) and sold from there | No | No | You pay normal customs duty and import VAT when you import the stock | Amazon puts it plainly in its announcement: shipments from within the EU to customers in the EU are not subject to the €3 import duty. The Commission’s guidance explains why: a distance sale of imported goods requires the goods to be outside the EU when they are sold, and stock you have already imported isn’t. One caution: customs can look through bulk shipments. If a consignment declared in bulk is in fact a set of orders already sold to EU consumers, for example with a label per customer, the Commission’s guidance says customs will treat each one as a distance sale, with the €3 duty and the €2 fee. None of these EU charges apply to sales to customers in Great Britain. The UK is removing its own £135 customs duty relief for low-value imports, on a date the Treasury will set by October 2028 at the latest. Northern Ireland has its own rules under the Windsor Framework: goods brought into Northern Ireland that are not at risk of moving on into the EU don’t pay EU customs duties, and on 1 October 2026 the EU adopted its position for a draft joint declaration, still to be made in the Joint Committee, that applies the same principle to the handling fee. If you ship to Northern Ireland, check with HMRC or your carrier. If you sell steadily on Amazon’s EU stores, compare the fixed charges on every parcel with importing in bulk, paying normal duty and import VAT once, and fulfilling from EU stock. Holding stock in the EU brings its own obligations, such as a VAT number in each country where it is stored: our article on [Pan-EU FBA requirements](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog/pan-eu-fba-netherlands-belgium?hsLang=en) covers them. If you source from China, our guide to [importing from China to Spain for Amazon FBA](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog/import-from-china-to-spain-amazon-fba?hsLang=en) explains the bulk route. ## Checklist 1. **Split your EU sales** into orders shipped from outside the EU straight to the customer and orders shipped from stock already in the EU. 2. **Recalculate the margin on direct shipments**: €3 per item for consignments up to €150, plus €2 per item from November, plus VAT and transport. 3. **Count the items per order**: products under different tariff codes multiply the charges. 4. **Ask your carrier or customs agent** who acts as declarant (IOSS holder or indirect representative) and how they will invoice you the duty and the fee. 5. **Prepare your product identifiers at model level**: the marketplace identifier, the manufacturer’s reference and the EAN where there is one. 6. **On Remote Fulfilment with FBA**, check final customer prices in the Revenue Calculator and review your pricing rules: Amazon adds the €3 on top of your price. 7. **Review your returns policy**: the €2 fee is non-refundable, and the €3 duty can no longer be recovered by invalidating the customs declaration when goods come back. 8. **Compare routes for your best sellers**: fixed charges per parcel against a bulk import into the EU. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much is the EU customs handling fee? €2 per item, meaning per line of the customs declaration for goods that share the same tariff classification, description and, where declared, origin. The amount is set by Commission Delegated Regulation C(2026) 6694, adopted on 21 September 2026. ### When does the €2 handling fee start? From the tenth day after the delegated act enters into force, which happens when it is published in the Official Journal of the EU. The European Commission and Dutch customs expect the fee to apply from 1 November 2026, provided neither the European Parliament nor the Council objects. ### Does the €2 fee replace the €3 customs duty? No. They are separate charges and they add up. The €3 duty applies per item to consignments worth up to €150 from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028; the €2 fee applies per item to all distance sales imported into the EU, whatever their value, and has no end date. ### If I ship 10 identical units in one parcel, do I pay 10 times? No. Identical goods with the same tariff classification, description and, where declared, origin are one item: €3 of duty and €2 of handling fee for that line, not for each unit. ### Do the charges apply to my FBA stock in Spain or Germany? No. If you import stock in bulk into the EU and sell it from there, the sale isn’t a distance sale of imported goods: you pay normal customs duty and import VAT when you import, and Amazon confirms that shipments from within the EU to EU customers don’t pay the €3 duty. The charges apply to orders shipped from outside the EU straight to the customer. ### Can I get the €3 or the €2 back if the customer returns the product? Not the €2: the handling fee is non-refundable. For the €3 duty, you can no longer ask customs to invalidate the declaration because goods in a consignment up to €150 were returned; the general refund rules, such as Article 116 of the Union Customs Code, still apply. ax Prep Center Is it time to keep your stock in the EU? ax Prep Center receives, preps and ships stock to Amazon fulfilment centres across Europe from Preixens (Lleida), Spain, an hour and a half from Barcelona. FBA inbound is processed in 48 hours, and we also fulfil FBM, Shopify and TikTok Shop orders from the same warehouse. Sourcing from China? Imports from China to Spain are handled door to door through our partner. [Discover ax Prep Center →](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/ax-prep-center?hsLang=en) *Sources: [Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 establishing the Union Customs Code (EUR-Lex)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202602108), Articles 5(78), 20, 282(7) and 287 and recital 80; [Commission Delegated Regulation C(2026) 6694 establishing the amount of the Union handling fee, Council document 13480/26 (22 September 2026)](https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-13480-2026-INIT/en/pdf); [Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 (EUR-Lex)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202600382); [European Commission, The temporary EUR 3 customs duty and the Union handling fee: Guidance for Member States and Trade (version of 5 October 2026)](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/053e5b4e-f0be-4f20-9a23-3e3b659a6676_en?filename=Customs%20Guidance%20on%20EUR%203%20customs%20duty.pdf); [European Commission, EU Customs Reform (news of 7 October 2026)](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/customs/eu-customs-reform_en); [European Commission, Guidance and legal text on temporary flat fee on low-value imports (8 June 2026, updated 20 July 2026)](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/news/guidance-and-legal-text-temporary-flat-fee-low-value-imports-which-will-apply-until-1-july-2028-2026-06-08_en); [Dutch Customs, Afhandelingsvergoeding (handling fee) voor e-commerce (updated 6 October 2026)](https://www.douane.nl/onderwerpen/invoer-en-uitvoer/invoer/e-commerce/afhandelingsvergoeding/); [Amazon Seller Forums, ‘EU customs requirements for low-value B2C imports into the EU’ (18 June 2026)](https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/seller-forums/discussions/t/e993a97b-719c-4306-9af0-e39cadd43b02); [GOV.UK, Reforming the customs treatment of low value imports into the UK (13 July 2026)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforming-customs-rules-for-low-value-imports/reforming-the-customs-treatment-of-low-value-imports-into-the-uk); [Council Decision (EU) 2026/2232 on a joint declaration on Article 5 of the Windsor Framework (EUR-Lex)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2026/2232/oj). Checked on 7 October 2026. This article is for information only and is not tax advice.* Tags [EU regulations](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog/tag/eu-regulations) [European e-commerce](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog/tag/european-e-commerce) Share this article [mailto:?subject=EU%20%E2%82%AC2%20customs%20handling%20fee%3A%20what%20changes%20for%20e-commerce%20sellers&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.axholdinggroup.com%2Fen%2Fblog%2Feu-customs-handling-fee](mailto:?subject=EU%20%E2%82%AC2%20customs%20handling%20fee%3A%20what%20changes%20for%20e-commerce%20sellers&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.axholdinggroup.com%2Fen%2Fblog%2Feu-customs-handling-fee) Written by Ax Holding Group™ ## More from *the blog* More real cases, operational lessons and analysis for Amazon and ecommerce sellers. [See all articles](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/en/blog) ![AX Holding Group](https://www.axholdinggroup.com/hubfs/Ax%20Holding%20group%20Logo.png) The operating group behind five specialist Amazon services. 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