EU Customs Reform and Low-Value Parcels: End of the €150 Duty Exemption, New Platform Duties and What It Means for GPSR

First sort out what is law and what is still to come

Much of what circulated about the EU "ending the €150 exemption" was written while these measures were still proposals. We checked each one against the Official Journal (OJ) and the pages of the Commission's tax and customs department (DG TAXUD) on 7 November 2026. The following are adopted and published law:

The package goes back to the Commission's customs reform proposal of 17 May 2023, COM(2023) 258. What the proposal called the "deemed importer" appears in the final text as the importer for distance sales.

Still open, to re-check later: the detailed data that the Data Hub will require is left to further delegated and implementing acts (Article 109(4) of the new Code); whether the €3 duty is extended beyond July 2028 depends on a Commission assessment due by 1 December 2027 (Article 3(2) of Regulation 2026/382); and the lower handling fee for goods shipped from a "customs warehouse for distance sales" only applies from 1 July 2028, with no amount set yet. If you see figures or dates for these, check them in the OJ first.

The end of the €150 relief and the temporary €3 duty

Until 30 June 2026, goods sent directly from a non-EU country to an EU consignee in consignments worth up to €150 were relieved from customs duty (Chapter V of Title II of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009). Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2026/382 deletes that chapter. As a stopgap, Article 2 provides that from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028, a duty of €3 per item applies to consignments with a total intrinsic value of up to €150, whatever the origin of the goods.

• An item is not a parcel and not a unit. Article 5, point 78 of the new Code defines an item as goods in one consignment sharing the same tariff classification and description (and origin, where it has to be declared). Three identical phone cases in one parcel are one item; a phone case plus a charging cable are two.
• Scope: distance sales of imported goods to EU consumers (B2C). The legal text covers IOSS imports and, through the amended definition of "goods in postal consignment", other distance-sale consignments up to €150 (Article 2 of Regulation 2026/382; Article 1(24) of Delegated Regulation 2015/2446 as amended by 2026/1022). The Commission's guidance says it applies whatever VAT route is used, with narrow exceptions such as certain goods with preferential origin. B2B imports are outside the €3 regime and pay the normal tariff.
• Who pays: the Commission's guidance puts the responsibility first on the declarant, meaning the platform, seller, carrier or agent that declares the goods; consumers only in residual cases. Who bears the cost commercially depends on your contracts.
• After 1 July 2028 the temporary rate ends and distance-sale goods of any value pay the normal duty rate.

The Council regulation's recitals say plainly that the relief was abused through undervaluation and artificial splitting of consignments. Do not try to keep duties down that way. Where customs find that a distance sale was not declared as one, they can establish the duty owed and recover it, and penalties may follow.

The €2 handling fee and product identifiers, both live since 1 November

Union handling fee. Under Article 20(2) of the new Code, customs collect a fixed fee per item when goods sold in distance sales are declared for release for free circulation. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 sets it at €2 per item from 1 November 2026. Unlike the €3 duty, the fee is not limited to consignments under €150: any distance sale is covered. It is non-refundable (Article 20(6)) and it is not temporary. Declarants trigger it with TARIC document code Y126.

Product identifiers. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1022 requires PIDs for goods sold in distance sales in consignments up to €150, mandatory from 1 November 2026 after a voluntary period from 1 July. The Commission's guidance describes three kinds:

The guidance explains that PIDs exist so customs can extend the result of one check to every product with the same risk. Deliberately reporting batch-level or unit-level codes where a model-level code exists is treated as a breach. For sellers the practical point is simple: keep model numbers, article numbers and barcodes consistent across the GPSR label, the technical documentation and the listing. They are the same type, batch or serial information GPSR Article 9(5) already asks for; see batch, serial and model numbers.

The new Customs Code: platforms and sellers become "importers for distance sales"

Under the current system, direct-to-consumer parcels are often imported in the consumer's name. The new Code moves that responsibility to businesses:

• Definition. For distance sales, the customs "importer" is the importer for distance sales: either the person supplying the goods or the person facilitating the distance sale, depending on the arrangements made (Article 5, points 13 and 14; recital 63).
• Obligations. The importer must provide the required information before release, ensure payment of duties and charges, and ensure the goods comply with the other legislation applied by customs, keeping records of that compliance (Article 27(2)). The recitals name the GPSR and Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 among that legislation. According to the Commission's guidance, this compliance obligation applies one year after entry into force, i.e. from 21 September 2027.
• Release data. Article 109(3)(a) lists the identity of the importer, seller, buyer, manufacturer, product supplier and the responsible economic operator under Article 4 of Regulation 2019/1020 and Article 16 GPSR among the conditions for release. The Commission links these fuller product data to the e-commerce Data Hub from July 2028; the exact data elements still depend on further acts (to re-check).
• Data Hub timetable. Importers for distance sales and IOSS users must submit data through the Data Hub from 1 July 2028 (Article 285(2)); other importers may use it voluntarily from 1 March 2031 and must from 1 March 2034.
• Systematic non-compliance. Once the Code applies, Article 276 requires penalties of at least 1% and up to 4% of the value of goods the operator imported in the previous 12 months for systematic infringements in distance sales, higher for repeats, plus suspension of AEO-type facilitations and, in serious cases, temporary restriction of access to the operator's online interface.

Keep the roles apart. The customs importer is not the GPSR importer and not your EU Responsible Person. A non-EU importer for distance sales can act through an indirect representative or under IOSS (Articles 27(3) and 85(4)), but the GPSR responsible person must be established in the EU (Article 16). See Amazon FBA vs FBM under GPSR for the full comparison.

The GPSR link: customs can stop non-compliant parcels today

The reform is mostly about duties, fees and data; customs powers over product safety are older and already in force. GPSR recital 62 confirms that Chapter VII of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 (Articles 25 to 28) applies directly to GPSR products:

On the responsible person, GPSR Article 16(3) requires the name, registered trade name or trade mark and contact details, including postal and electronic address, on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document. The Commission's Article 4 guidelines (2021/C 100/01, section 2.3) add that these details must already be present when the product is declared for free circulation, so sellers outside the EU should add them before shipping. For CE-marked products, missing details are an express ground for suspension under Article 26(1)(d). For products covered only by the GPSR, point (d) does not apply as such, but missing responsible-person details can still give customs cause to believe the product does not comply (point (e)).

On the platform side, GPSR Article 22 requires online marketplaces to have a contact point, act on orders about dangerous offers within two working days and provide an interface for manufacturer, responsible person and safety information, while Article 19 requires distance-sale offers to show that information. What is on the parcel and what is in the listing should match; see GPSR online selling requirements.

IOSS is VAT, not product safety

The Import One-Stop Shop is a VAT scheme. As recital 2 of Regulation 2026/382 recalls, Directive (EU) 2017/2455 removed the import VAT exemption for goods up to €22 from 1 July 2021; IOSS lets the seller or platform collect import VAT at the point of sale for consignments up to €150.

An IOSS number only shows that VAT is being accounted for. It has nothing to do with GPSR compliance: it does not replace an EU responsible person, does not prove safety and does not remove labelling or warning duties. IOSS consignments now also pay the €3 temporary duty and the €2 handling fee.

What sellers shipping parcels from China should do now

Rather than guessing at future costs, get the certain parts right:

1. Responsible person details on every product or parcel. With direct shipping there is usually no EU importer, and couriers and postal operators are not fulfilment service providers, so the route is a written mandate with an EU authorised representative. Print the details on the product, packaging or parcel before it leaves your warehouse, not only in the customs data or the shipping label system. Label content: GPSR label requirements.
2. Manufacturer details, model and batch on the product. The Article 9(5) and (6) information cannot sit only on the outer parcel, and warnings must be in the destination country's language.
3. Accurate goods descriptions. Declare the real description, HS code and value, consistent with the listing and invoice. Vague descriptions and low values now affect duty and fee calculations and attract checks.
4. Align model numbers, article numbers and EANs so the product identifiers declared since 1 November match your labels and technical file.
5. Documents ready. Give your responsible person the technical documentation, test reports and, for CE products, the declaration of conformity. After a suspension, market surveillance normally decides within four working days, so the file must be available at once; see GPSR technical documentation.
6. Settle roles with your platform and carrier: who is the declarant, who pays the €3 duty and the handling fee, who submits PIDs. Seller Central wording changes, so rely on official announcements.

For all dates in one place see GPSR timeline and updates, and if you are unsure where you stand, try the three-step compliance check.