"I am pleased to confirm that we have reached a political agreement on the elimination of the current €150 customs duty exemption threshold. Eliminating this exemption threshold ensures that customs duties will be levied on the first euro on all goods entering the EU, just like Value Added Tax," announced the Danish Minister of Economy, Stephanie Lose, representing the current Danish Presidency of the Council.

This approval from EU finance ministers at a meeting in Brussels – which included the Portuguese minister, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento – comes in response to "the large volume of low-cost goods imported from third countries, particularly from Asia and China," notably from e-commerce giants such as Temu, Shein, and AliExpress, added Stephanie Lose.

Loopholes

"The end of the exemption will close long-standing loopholes that have been systematically exploited to avoid paying customs duties, for example, by undervaluing goods or splitting shipments to keep the value below the previous threshold. This change will also create a fairer and more equitable level playing field between European companies that pay customs duties on all imports and non-EU companies that sell low-value goods directly to European consumers without paying customs duties," the Danish minister added.

The new rule will come into effect as soon as the EU customs data centre – the central platform proposed by the EU to interact with customs and strengthen controls – is operational, that is, no later than 2028.

Temporary solution

Due to the scale of the problem, the EU Council requested a simple and temporary solution to levy customs duties on these goods as early as next year, for rapid implementation, while simultaneously providing the necessary time to develop the customs data centre required for the new system.

European companies, particularly retailers, have repeatedly stressed the need to eliminate this distortion of competition.

The measure now agreed therefore aims to ensure fair competition with European retailers, reduce the enormous volume of small parcels (which amounted to approximately 4.6 billion in 2024, 91% of which came from China), strengthen the control of non-compliant products, and cover customs costs.

Currently, many of these orders enter the EU without paying duties and without adequate security, environmental or quality controls.

The European Commission therefore wants to eliminate the exemption threshold and introduce a fee of around two euros per order, hoping to be able to do so from 2026.