The EU Customs Reform is an ambitious overhaul of how Customs operate across the EU27. The reform of the current Union Customs Code (UCC) of 2016 is driven by the need to fully digitalise the EU and national customs systems, strengthen resilience to international political and health crises, and ensure greater harmonisation in enforcing EU law. The rapid growth of low-value item volumes flowing through Customs has further increased the need to modernise customs tools.
The first milestone of the EU Customs Reform’s implementation in the field of e-commerce is the change to the customs duty regime, which took effect on 1 July 2026. Goods in consignments with an intrinsic value not exceeding €150, previously exempt from customs duties, can no longer be imported duty-free and are now subject to a temporary customs duty of €3 per item. On 1 July 2028, the flat duty will be replaced by the applicable duty under the Common Customs Tariff.
The €3 customs duty becomes due when the customs declaration for the release for free circulation of the goods into the EU is accepted. Remittance depends on the import channel used for the sale, and there is no central mechanism for marketplaces to collect and remit the duty. Whether the duty is included in the online item price, charged at check-out or collected upon delivery ultimately depends on the seller or platform’s business model and logistical agreements. Responsibility for the customs debt is allocated through a cascade system involving platforms, sellers, carriers or agents, or other persons residually. When an Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) registration is used by an online retailer or a platform, the online retailer or platform is considered the declarant and is therefore responsible for the customs debt. When IOSS is not used, the user of postal special arrangements becomes the responsible party. Alternatively, an indirect customs representative, usually carriers, will act as declarant. A third party may be responsible in Member States where this is permitted. In any case, the customer should not be the debtor. In practice, contractual agreements between online sellers or platforms and logistics providers will determine delivery and payment arrangements.
The €3 customs duty applies per item line in the customs declaration; therefore, accurate information and data will be important in calculating the applicable duty. The required details concerning classification, description and, where applicable, origin, quantity and preferential rate of the items may vary depending on the customs declaration. The relevant customs declarations are H1 for imports under the standard procedure, H6 for postal flows and H7 for e-commerce items under the IOSS regime.
The second milestone of the implementation of the EU Customs Reform for e-commerce will take place on 1 November 2026, when two important measures are expected to apply.
The first measure is the mandatory provision of product identifiers (PID) for each item, aiming to enable Customs to obtain and use operational and supply-chain traceability information, facilitating the identification of non-compliant goods. There will be three types of PID: the merchant’s product identifier, as assigned by the online retailer or platform to each good offered online; a non-standardised manufacturer’s product reference; and, where existing, an international standardised product reference. The merchant and manufacturer PIDs will be mandatory, while the internationally recognised PID may be provided where applicable. PID rules will apply to all goods, irrespective of value, although certain goods identified through a list of commodity codes will receive special treatment. Authorised Economic Operators are encouraged to provide PIDs earlier; the requirement will become mandatory for all other operators on 1 November 2026.
The second measure is a new flat handling fee on e-commerce items, distinct from the €3 customs duty. The handling fee is intended to disincentivise the importation of non-compliant goods and compensate Customs for their capacity-building efforts. The secondary legislation containing operational details has not yet been adopted, including the amount of the fee (expected between €2 and €4), the calculation and remittance mechanisms, and other elements. The EU handling fee is also intended to harmonise the patchwork of national initiatives aimed at curbing non-compliant imports. Some EU Member States introduced national fees in early 2026 but later removed them ahead of schedule because of the unintended diversion of trade and import routes. The EU-wide handling fee expected for 1 November should promote convergence towards a common solution.
The effects of the first implementation phase of the UCC reform of 1 July 2026 will become clearer in the coming weeks and months. In the long term, however, the EU reform will fundamentally reshape how businesses interact with customs authorities across the EU27. Not only in terms of fiscal responsibility, but also regarding data sharing, compliance, IT investments and operational adaptation. The UCC reform will also place greater responsibility on platforms, sellers and other economic operators to ensure the accuracy of customs data and the compliance of imported goods. The phased rollout of the new framework gives businesses time to adapt, but the scale of the changes means that preparations should begin well before the EU Customs Data Hub becomes operational for e-commerce in 2028.