Contact us now for all your importing and exporting questions international@chamberelancs.co.uk or call us on 01254 356454

The customs exemption for parcels valued under €150 will be abolished across the European Union starting in early 2026, with all packages dispatched from third countries now subject to normal checks, duties, and stipulated handling fees.

This measure would be accompanied by a simple, temporary solution for the calculation of customs duties in the interim period, until mid-2028, when the EU Customs Data Hub will provide the functionalities for calculating the customs duties on e-commerce transactions.

All imports and e-commerce trading regardless of value into the EU will now be subject to duty plus a handling fee along with the importing country’s VAT and customs declaration.

This will level the playing field between traditional retail (bulk imports) and e-commerce (individual low value parcels), encompassing business to consumer trading.

Exporters need to prepare for additional customs duty liabilities and ensure transparent pricing for EU consumers within their on-line platforms.

Duty liabilities are easily verified along with ensuring your invoices have the correct information for the overseas country to check the correct duty is being applied – call now for guidance on 01254 356454 or email international@chamberelancs.co.uk

This may pave the way for the UK Government to follow suit and could be a possibility in the forthcoming Autumn budget, providing a revenue impact, ensure fair competition and protect domestic retailers against low cost overseas sellers benefiting from duty free access. We may even see our postman collecting the additional duties at our doorstep.

This move would bring the UK in-line with EU and the US trends who have both tightened their de minimis thresholds.