The Council of the European Union has officially confirmed the introduction of new rules for taxing small parcels arriving in member states from third countries, which will significantly affect the habits of Croatian consumers who shop via platforms such as Temu, AliExpress or Shein.

According to the new regulation, the previous exemption from paying customs duties for goods worth less than 150 euros is being abolished. As written by the EU Council, the main goal of this decision is to curb unfair competition faced by European traders and to address the problem of systematic abuse of the customs system.

Temporary fee of 3 euros per product category

From 1 July 2026, a transitional charging system will be introduced and will remain in place until a new European customs data hub is established. During that period, all items in small consignments worth up to 150 euros will be subject to a fixed customs fee of 3 euros.

It is important to emphasize that this amount will not be charged per package, but per product category within the same package.

If a buyer orders a shipment containing one silk shirt and two wool sweaters, they will be required to pay 6 euros in customs duties because those items fall into different subgroups according to the customs nomenclature.

In its statement, the EU Council explains that this measure will apply to 93% of all e-commerce flows to the Union, specifically to all traders registered in the IOSS system for paying value added tax. This approach should ensure revenue for national budgets and the Union's common budget, while member states will retain part of the collected funds to cover collection costs.

The unstoppable growth of shipments from China as an alarm for regulators

The reason for such strict measures lies in the enormous increase in the number of packages entering the European market every day. According to European Commission data cited by the EU Council, the volume of small consignments has doubled every year since 2022. During 2024, an incredible 4.6 billion such packages entered the European Union market, and notably as many as 91% of those shipments come directly from China. The current system, under which such packages were completely exempt from customs duties, has become unsustainable, not only because of lost revenue, but also because of security risks and the environmental impact of mass delivery of cheap goods.

Makis Keravnos, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Cyprus, emphasized that European customs rules must keep pace with the global boom in online trade. He states that abolishing the outdated exemption will help European companies that were at a disadvantage and close the door to unscrupulous sellers who used loopholes in the law to avoid obligations.

Long-term reform and full automation from 2028

The 3-euro fee is only the first step in a comprehensive reform of the customs union. The EU Council plans that from 2028, once the new IT system becomes operational, the fixed fee will be replaced by standard customs tariffs for each individual product. This means that percentage-based customs duties will apply to cheap goods just as they do to more expensive shipments, thereby completely erasing the 150-euro threshold that for years served as a shield for cheap online shopping.

Negotiations between the EU Council and the European Parliament on establishing a new customs authority and digital hub are still ongoing, but the direction is clear. The European administration wants a centralized system that will be able to process billions of data points more efficiently and prevent the fragmentation of national customs systems, which are currently struggling to cope with the pressure.

Protecting the market at the expense of consumer savings

For years, European traders have warned about the absurd situation in which it was cheaper to order a small item from the other side of the world than to buy it in a local store, precisely because of tax and customs relief that favored imports. With this new move, Brussels is sending a clear message that protecting the domestic economy and fair market competition is a priority over maintaining artificially low prices based on regulatory loopholes.

Consumers will have to adapt to a new reality in which completely duty-free imports will no longer exist, which in the long term could also encourage a shift toward higher-quality and locally available products.