EU ends duty-free loophole for cheap parcels: a €3-per-item charge hits Temu, Shein and AliExpress from today

The new regime

Online shoppers in the European Union woke up to a different customs reality on Wednesday. The long-standing exemption that allowed parcels worth up to €150 to enter the bloc duty-free was scrapped, and every single item in a shipment now carries a flat customs charge of €3. The measure is temporary, designed to bridge the period until a fully digital customs system is operational, and will remain in force until 1 July 2028.

The change affects all purchases from outside the EU, including those from China, the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey. However, the driving force behind the reform was the explosive growth of ultra-low-cost goods shipped directly from Chinese warehouses. Platforms such as Temu, Shein and AliExpress have built their European customer base on the back of the de minimis rule, which the European Commission now says was widely abused through undervaluation and artificial parcel splitting.

How the charge is calculated

Contrary to a common misconception, the new duty is not a simple €3 slapped on every package. Instead, it applies per “tariff heading”, a group of items that share the same customs classification. A parcel containing three identical T‑shirts incurs a single charge of €3, while a parcel with a T‑shirt, a phone case and a toy would trigger three separate charges, adding €9 to the cost.

Legal expert Oskar Dziok explained the distinction: the fee is linked to product categories, so a diversified shopping basket becomes disproportionately more expensive. In practical terms, a €30 order of three items now costs €39, and a basket of ten different decorations priced at around 200 Polish złoty would attract roughly 130 złoty in customs fees alone.

Who pays, and what it means for shoppers

Formally, the duty is owed by the seller, the online platform or the customs declarant, not by the consumer. The European Commission stressed that the new rules make online marketplaces the “importer of record” for distance sales. In reality, however, the cost is expected to be passed on through higher product prices or delivery fees. Consumer protection bodies have already warned that for very cheap items, lashes, nails, small accessories, the €3 top‑up can more than double the final price.

The charge does not apply to goods shipped from warehouses already located inside the EU, a nuance that may encourage large Chinese platforms to build up European logistics hubs and pay standard customs rates.

Industry reaction

Allegro spokesperson Marcin Gruszka called the fee “a good start, but not enough.” He said the €3 duty can partially level the playing field between EU businesses and platforms that have been exploiting customs loopholes, but he flagged a risk that non‑European players could still find ways around the new regime. “A situation where shipping a package from China costs less than sending something across Warsaw is not normal,” he added.

Hanna Cichy of Polityka Insight noted that platforms had already begun preparing for the change, drawing a parallel with a similar US move that she said proved effective.

The numbers behind the shift

Last year, 5.9 billion low‑value parcels streamed into the EU, roughly 16 million per day. By volume they accounted for 97% of all third‑country imports, yet their value represented only 2% of imported goods. More than 90% of those shipments originated in China. The previous rules were designed for an era of occasional online shopping and paper‑based customs, a reality that no longer exists.