New two-euro EU handling fee must help customs keep unsafe products from consumers

From 1 November 2026, the EU will introduce a two-euro handling fee on small parcels ordered from outside the Union. The European Consumer Organisation, BEUC, welcomes the measure as a crucial step to give customs authorities the means to improve safety checks on the flood of e commerce parcels entering Europe every day. BEUC members' tests repeatedly find illegal products sold online. This fee should help keep unsafe products away from consumers, but only if Member States effectively channel the revenue to customs authorities, a responsibility that now lies with them.

The new two-euro handling fee complements the three-euro customs duty from July 2026, but serves a different purpose. The duty is a customs charge on low value imports, while the handling fee funds customs authorities to carry out safety checks. Both measures aim at safer products entering the EU, with importers, not consumers, paying the fees.

BEUC is concerned that some platforms may try to pass these new costs onto consumers at the final stages of the purchase, as already expressed about the customs duty. That would be illegal under EU law, which requires the full price to be shown upfront.

BEUC Director General Agustín Reyna commented: 

“Behind every bargain from non EU online shops, consumers may face hidden dangers, from choking risks on toys, to chemicals in clothes causing a skin rash, or risks of electric shocks or fire from faulty electronics. For years customs have been asked to take on illegal imports with limited resources while small parcels have multiplied out of control. The new two-euro handling fee shows policymakers have finally recognised that safe borders require adequate resources to protect consumers from unsafe products reaching their homes.

“Now the priority must be to ensure that importers pay the fee, not consumers, and that Member States use it for what it is meant to do: to truly strengthen customs capacity and keep consumers safe.”

Background:

• On 1 July 2026, the EU introduced a temporary three-euro customs duty on small parcels valued below €150. The flat three-euro duty is applied per item category in a parcel and must be paid by the commercial importer, such as online marketplaces or postal operators. This system is likely to encourage bulk imports rather than millions of individual shipments, making it easier for authorities to carry out safety checks. Once the Data Hub (expected in 2028) is fully operational, normal customs duties will apply.
• The scale of the challenge is stark. Millions of small parcels arrive in the EU every day, predominantly from non EU online marketplaces. This tsunami of parcels has made it practically impossible to ensure that toys, electronics, cosmetics and other goods comply with EU safety rules before they reach consumers’ doorsteps. Before 1 July 2026, it was estimated that 15 million small value parcels entered the EU every day. Customs authority have started reporting a decline in the number of parcels coming through the main hubs (e.g., in Belgium, France, Netherlands) since the introduction of the fee.
• Independent consumer groups in BEUC’s network keep finding dangerous and illegal products from e commerce. Tests on Temu and Shein items found that 69% of 162 items (including USB chargers, toys and jewellery) were non compliant and potentially unsafe. Separate Temu product tests revealed up to 96% non compliance, with risks ranging from fire and electric shock to choking hazards and exposure to toxic chemicals.