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FAQ: Why new fees apply to imports, and what they are meant to achieve
Policy2 min read
From today, people in the EU pay an extra two-euro handling fee on many online orders from outside the EU, such as from China or the USA. The fee is meant to slow the flood of cheap parcels and cover the extra costs of checking them.
What is new
A new handling fee of two euros now applies to items bought from online shops outside the EU and sent to buyers in the EU. This includes parcels from Asia, the Americas and Switzerland. The fee has no end date. It is charged for each product group in a shipment, such as screws, shoes or pens. The online sellers or importers must pay it, not the buyer directly. But sellers may pass the cost on through higher prices.
Key numbers
- The fee is 2 euros, charged per product group ("Warenposition") in a shipment.
- Since July, a flat customs duty of 3 euros per product group has applied to goods from outside the EU, starting from the first euro.
- Before July, parcels worth up to 150 euros could enter the EU duty-free.
- In 2025, EU customs handled about 6 billion parcels from online sellers. About 90 percent came from China.
- That is more than 16 million small parcels a day.
Why the fees exist
Many small parcels from cheap online sellers, such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress, are arriving in Europe. Checking and controlling each one costs money and time. The EU wants the fees to pay for these extra checks. A Green member of the European Parliament, Anna Cavazzini, says the fee should also reduce the number of single small packages. She warns that without checks, unsafe products like exploding phone batteries or toxic children's toys could enter the single market.
Why it matters
Experts expect that the fee, together with the customs duty, will make each small shipment noticeably more expensive. Some sellers may absorb the cost for a while, but experts doubt they can do so for long because their margins are already very small. Consumer advocates also found that online marketplaces handle the flat duty very differently. Some sellers asked for more than 3 euros per category, which would be an extra profit for them. Shoppers should compare the price breakdown before they buy.
What to watch
- Whether online sellers raise prices for cheap products.
- How much the new fees bring in, and whether the money is used to improve market checks, as the industry asks.
- Whether marketplaces apply the flat duty in the same way.
- Whether the number of small parcels from China falls.
Glossary
- Warenposition
- A product group in a shipment, such as shoes or pens.