EU customs reform adopted: handling fee from November, platforms become importers

What happened

On Wednesday 16 September 2026 the European Parliament gave final approval to the reform of the EU Customs Code; the Council had already given its formal consent, which completes the procedure. The centrepiece for retail is a new handling fee on every item ordered from a web shop outside the EU and sent directly to an EU consumer; member states will levy it from 1 November 2026 at the latest, the Commission sets the amount and reviews it every two years. It must be paid by the same party that owes the remaining customs charges for the parcel — explicitly so that the cost does not end up with the consumer. The second lever: sellers and platforms that facilitate distance sales from third countries to EU customers will themselves count as importers, must be established in the EU or represented by an EU entity with AEO or trusted trader status, and are liable for data, duties and product compliance. For repeated breaches, fines of at least 1 and up to 6 per cent of the import value of the past twelve months are foreseen. Behind this sits the rebuilding of the IT: an EU Data Hub is to replace at least 111 national customs systems, usable voluntarily from 2031 and mandatory from 2034, administered by the new EU customs authority EUCA based in Lille. Rapporteur Dirk Gotink (EPP, NL) calls it “the biggest reform of European customs since 1968”.

Who it affects

Online merchants and marketplace sellers in Germany who have spent years pricing against direct imports from the Far East — and every shop that itself sources from third countries or sells into the EU via a platform.

Assessment

For German online merchants this is the most important competitive news of the year, and it has little to do with customs and a lot to do with costing. The lead held by the big Far Eastern platforms never consisted of low manufacturing costs alone. It consisted of a procedure in which millions of individual consignments passed by the controls, while the merchant in Gelsenkirchen had to comply with every product rule, pay every duty and cover every return himself. If platforms now count as importers in customs law and answer for compliance, part of that lead disappears — not through protectionism, but because both sides carry the same obligations.

Two things should nevertheless be seen soberly. First, the decisive figure is still open: the Commission has not set the level of the handling fee, and until then nobody can seriously calculate how much more expensive a parcel from China will become. Second, the effect depends on enforcement, not on the text of the law; the data basis for that only arrives with the Data Hub, and that is voluntary from 2031 at the earliest and mandatory in 2034. Until then, 111 systems continue to run alongside one another. Anyone deriving a jump in turnover from this now is mistaken. Anyone who aligns their prices and product communication in the fourth quarter with the fact that cheap direct imports are becoming less convenient is making the right preparation.

What to do now

1. Check whether your own consignments are affected: anyone shipping directly to end customers from third countries themselves, or selling via a third-country platform, needs an answer by 1 November as to who owes the import charges.
2. Prepare the costing advantage, do not proclaim it: delivery time, warranty, returns and product safety are the arguments that bite again from November — make them visible in product texts and in the checkout.
3. Keep an eye on the level of the fee: only the Commission’s implementing act makes the reform calculable for your own price list.