EU: towards abolishing the threshold for exemption from customs duties
The European Union has taken a major step in reforming its customs rules by announcing the abolition, by 2026, of the EUR 150 duty exemption threshold for e-commerce packages from third countries.
This decision, supported by the European Parliament and the Council, aims to restore fairness between traditional trade and e-commerce, while the explosion of low-value imports put European traders at a disadvantage.
Currently, packages with a value of less than EUR 150 imported directly by European consumers from non-EU countries are exempt from customs duties, although they remain subject to VAT and customs declarations.
Given the exponential growth of e-commerce, this exemption is considered obsolete and distorting competition.
By removing it, the EU intends to put an end to an unjustified advantage for foreign platforms, which used this threshold to offer more attractive prices than local retailers.
In order to speed up the reform, the Member States and the Commission decided to move the implementation forward to 2026, without waiting for the European Customs Agency and the Data Hub to be set up in 2028. A temporary solution will be put in place to simplify the calculation of customs duties during this transition period.
This is part of the broader framework of the 2023 customs reform aimed at modernising and fluidising procedures in the EU. It will be accompanied by the introduction of a processing fee for e-commerce transactions in November 2026.
The aim is to create a more dynamic and equitable business environment while preparing the ground for more efficient customs management by 2028.