Temu, Shein and the customs reform: the end of the 150 euro limit

01How the pressure built up

Around 4.6 billion low-value parcels entered the EU in 2024 alone, the vast majority from China, ordered on platforms like Temu, Shein or AliExpress and delivered straight to the door. The business model behind it relied partly on a gap: consignments under 150 euros were duty-free, and the sheer volume made real checks impossible. That is a good twelve million parcels per day.

For consumers this looked like a good deal. For merchants in the EU it meant competing against prices that are simply out of reach when the rules are followed, and for public budgets it meant losses in duties and taxes.

02An uneven playing field

As an EU merchant you pay duty on your imports, register for packaging and electronics, are liable for product safety and pay VAT. Direct shippers from third countries could simply route around many of these costs. That was not a competition between products but one of rule-keeping, and whoever kept the rules lost.

• Duty-free under 150 euros, often helped further by undervalued customs declarations.
• Product safety: market surveillance regularly finds products in cheap-import samples that fail EU requirements.
• Producer responsibility for packaging and electronics often runs into nothing with direct shipping.
• VAT: under-reporting and false declarations distort competition further.

03What applies since 1 July 2026

• The 150 euro exemption is abolished, consignments from third countries are dutiable in principle, regardless of value.
• As a transition, distance sales to consumers up to 150 euros carry a flat duty of 3 euros per product category in a consignment.
• The Council of the EU finally adopted the rules in February 2026, collection runs mainly through the platforms and the Import One-Stop Shop.
• From around 2028, regular tariff-based duties are set to replace the flat rate, handled through a new central EU customs data platform.

For a clear picture: the end of the exemption and the 3 euro flat duty are adopted and in force. The switch to regular tariff rates from 2028 is the planned second step of the reform.

04What is still under discussion

Also on the table is a handling fee of around 2 euros per small consignment, meant to cover inspection costs. As of August 2026 it is not adopted. A dedicated EU customs authority is part of the wider reform as well and still being set up. Expect details to keep moving, the direction however stands. For your calculation this means: the flat duty is safe to plan with, everything else belongs on the watchlist.

05Your opportunity as an EU merchant

The price gap to direct imports is shrinking twice over: the flat duty already makes every item more expensive, and from 2028 regular duties follow. That is exactly where your strengths sit: delivery in days instead of weeks, real returns and warranty, tested products and a contact who will still exist tomorrow. What used to just cost you money becomes an argument in your favour.

Compliance was a pure cost block for a long time. Now it becomes a selling point: make visible that your products are tested, safe and imported fairly.