From 1 November, every item in an online parcel from outside the EU carries a €2 ‘handling fee’ on top of the €3 duty

The EU’s customs reform, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, entered into force in September. It created a Union handling fee on e-commerce imports to cover customs authorities’ costs. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 sets the amount. The Commission says: “From 1 November 2026, the EU will apply the €2 Union handling fee.”

How it works

• €2 per distinct item in a package. Identical items count as one.
• It applies to all e-commerce goods sent from outside the EU (including Great Britain) to EU consumers, “regardless of the value”.
• It is paid by the e-commerce seller or the business delivering the goods, which “may pass on the charge to the end consumer”. That can happen at checkout or on delivery.
• It is “NOT refundable, even where goods are later found to be faulty.”
• It comes on top of the temporary €3 customs duty per item on consignments up to €150, which applies from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028, and on top of VAT.

Ireland’s Revenue Commissioners give these examples:

• A €10 package with a pen, a notebook and a key ring (three items): €9 duty plus €6 handling fee = €15 plus VAT.
• Two identical pens (one item): €3 + €2 = €5 plus VAT.
• Jeans (€100) and runners (€150) together, over the €150 threshold: normal duty of €12 and €25.35, plus a €4 handling fee = €41.35 plus VAT.

Revenue says the fee “is intended to cover the increased costs being incurred by Customs authorities as a result of the huge growth of eCommerce”.