Millions of products ordered online from outside the European Union will incur an additional handling charge from now on. The fee applies to imports from countries such as China, the United States and Switzerland, with online retailers or importers responsible for paying it to the EU.

The charge is levied per product category, or “goods position.” A parcel containing items from several categories—for example, clothing, shoes and charging cables—will therefore incur higher fees, reaching €4, €6 or more. The measure has no stated time limit.

Consumers will not face a more complicated ordering process, but some products could become more expensive. Stephan Tromp of the German Retail Association said retailers could pass part of the fee on through higher prices. Alien Mulyk, managing director of Germany’s Federal Association of E-Commerce and Mail Order Trade, expects increases to be more likely for low-priced products with particularly narrow profit margins.

The EU introduced the fee to address the growing volume of inexpensive parcels and the costs associated with processing them. In 2025, EU customs authorities handled around six billion packages from online retailers, according to EU member states. About 90% came from China, equivalent to more than 16 million small parcels arriving in the EU each day.

The new handling charge is separate from a flat customs duty of €3 per product category that has applied since July to goods from outside the EU, starting with the first euro of value. Previously, parcels worth up to €150 could enter the bloc without customs duty. Under the current system, a parcel containing a T-shirt, a watch and a whisk could incur €9 in customs duty if each item belongs to a different category.

Together, the new fee and the flat customs duties will significantly raise import costs for small shipments, Mulyk said. She considers it unlikely that online platforms will absorb the additional expense permanently, given their already narrow margins.

Consumer data cited by Germany’s Federal Association of Consumer Organisations indicates that online marketplaces handle the flat customs duty differently. Some sellers have reportedly charged more than €3 per product category, which consumer expert Ann-Katrin Hamacher described as potentially creating an additional profit for the company. She advised consumers to check price breakdowns carefully and compare offers.

The additional revenue is intended to help cover the cost of inspecting and controlling the growing number of small shipments. Green member of the European Parliament Anna Cavazzini said the fee should both reduce the number of individual parcels and finance customs controls. Consumer expert Hamacher added that unsafe products can impose costs on the public, while stressing that a fee does not replace platform liability or the obligation to offer safe and legally compliant goods.

Mulyk said the revenue should also be used to modernise inadequate market surveillance.

The effect of the new charge on parcel volumes remains uncertain. The €3 customs duty introduced in July appears to have had an impact: according to the European Commission, the EU recorded an average parcel decline of more than 60% in July, August and September. Even so, around five million shipments were still arriving each day, leaving customs authorities under considerable pressure. The Commission cautioned that it was too early to draw final conclusions because business models continue to change.

Sources: Tagesschau.