From 1 November 2026, a €2 Union handling fee will apply to goods sent to consumers from outside the EU

From 1 November 2026, as part of the European Union’s customs reform, a Union handling fee will apply to goods ordered online by consumers and sent from non-EU countries directly to consumers in the EU. The fee applies regardless of whether the online store is established in or outside the EU: what matters is that the goods are sent directly to the EU consumer from a third country.

The fee is €2 per item and is intended to cover the costs of customs controls, such as checking data and assessing risks. Gifts sent from one private individual to another are not subject to the €2 Union handling fee. Nor does the fee apply to ordinary business-to-business consignments of goods.

It is important to note that the €2 fee is calculated per item, not per parcel. Goods of the same type count as one item. Accordingly, the number of different items in a parcel is decisive, and the Union handling fee may apply several times to a single parcel, resulting in a total fee of more than €2.

Unlike the temporary €3 customs duty that has applied since 1 July 2026 to parcels worth up to €150, the €2 Union handling fee applies regardless of the value of the parcel. Therefore, for purchases of up to €150, both the €3 customs duty and the €2 Union handling fee apply per item. For example, if a parcel worth €100 contains four different types of products (e.g. a T-shirt, headphones, a phone case and a toy), the parcel will be subject to €12 in customs duty (4 × €3) and €8 in Union handling fees (4 × €2), totalling €20. In addition, VAT is payable on the total of the value of the goods, shipping costs, customs duty and the Union handling fee.

Although the new fee concerns distance sales of goods to consumers via e-commerce, this does not mean that the consumer must always pay the €2 Union handling fee to customs themselves. Payment of the fee depends on the terms and conditions of sale of the online store or platform and on who arranges the customs clearance.

In the case of a seller using the IOSS special scheme, taxes and fees are generally already included in the price of the order and customs clearance is arranged by the seller or its representative. The consumer cannot declare such a consignment themselves. In other cases, the obligation to pay may arise upon importation of the goods. In that case, the consumer can declare the consignment using a postal parcel declaration in the Estonian Tax and Customs Board’s e-MTA portal.