Major adjustments!The EU suspends small package tariffs, and European logistics costs may be restruc

Starting from July 1, 2026, the EU will officially implement a temporary unified tariff on imported cross-border small packages worth 150 euros and below. Each package will be levied according to different tariff subheadings (HS Tariff Heading), and each tariff category will be charged 3 euros as part of the EU customs reform transitional measures.The EU Council stated that this move aims to cancel the long-standing tariff exemption for low-value parcels, improve the efficiency of customs supervision, reduce under-declaration and the inflow of non-compliant goods, and create a more level playing field for EU companies.According to the plan, this temporary measure will be implemented until the EU Customs Data Hub is officially put into operation.— PART.01 —
France suspends €2 state fee
Just before the EU's unified policy was officially implemented, the French government announced that it would suspend the previously implemented 2-euro national small parcel charging policy from July 1, 2026.Information released by the French government shows that the main reason for suspending collection is that the EU's unified 3-euro tariff has taken effect simultaneously. In order to avoid the duplication of burdens caused by national charges and EU charges in parallel and affect the operation of the EU single market, it was decided to suspend the charging measures at the national level.However, the French government emphasized that this adjustment is a "tactical suspension (Suspension tactique)".French Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Trade Serge Papin said that with the EU's subsequent unified management fee mechanism expected to be launched in November, France may still resume national charges by then.According to the current plan, the maximum cost borne by enterprises in the future may reach about 5 euros (unified tariff of 3 euros in the EU + national fee of 2 euros in France).— PART.02 —
Italy delays state charges again
Similar to France, Italy also previously planned to impose a national processing fee of 2 euros on imported small packages under 150 euros.According to the latest press bulletin No. 179 issued by the Italian government, the charging policy originally planned to be implemented in July has been postponed again, and the latest effective time has been adjusted to October 1, 2026.The Italian government stated that this extension is also to be consistent with the EU's unified charging system and to prevent companies from bearing both EU and national charges in the short term.Industry analysts believe that if it is implemented as planned in October, small packages shipped to Italy may be subject to both EU unified tariffs and national charges in the future; if it is postponed again, only the EU unified charging policy will still be implemented.— PART.03 —
Divided policies among EU member states
Currently, all 27 EU member states implement a unified temporary tariff policy of 3 euros, but the additional charges at the national level are not consistent.Public information shows: France: Suspension of 2 euro national fee; Italy: Delayed implementation until October; Romania: National fee has been implemented in early 2026; Netherlands and Belgium: Currently, no additional national fee measures have been introduced and they directly implement EU unified policies.At the same time, the European Commission stated that starting from November 2026, the EU also plans to introduce a Union Handling Fee to cover the growing costs of customs supervision and processing of cross-border parcels. Specific charging rules are still being further formulated.— PART.04 —
EU strengthens cross-border parcel supervision
In recent years, the EU has continued to promote the reform of the customs system and proposed to cancel the duty-free treatment for imported goods below 150 euros and strengthen the supervision of cross-border e-commerce platforms and low-value packages.European Commission data shows that currently more than 12 million low-value cross-border parcels enter the EU market every day, a large number of which come from Asian cross-border e-commerce platforms.The EU believes that the current system has created competitive pressure on local companies and increased customs supervision costs, so it has launched unified charging and supporting reform measures.It is worth noting that the 3 euros implemented this time are not charged based on the number of packages.According to official instructions published by the European Commission, each package will be taxed separately according to "different tariff subheadings (Tariff Heading)".For example, if a package contains a T-shirt and a watch, since they belong to two different tax categories, they will be charged 3 euros each, totaling 6 euros. If the package contains multiple items of the same category, only one tax category will be charged.In addition, the sales platform or importer is responsible for declaring and paying this fee during the customs declaration process, and is not directly levied separately on the final consumer.— PART.05 —
Industry observation
France's suspension of national charges and Italy's postponement again have prevented companies from facing the pressure of "double charges" in the short term, and also reflect that EU member states are accelerating their integration with the unified customs reform policy.However, judging from the overall trend, the EU is continuing to promote the reform of cross-border e-commerce import supervision. In the future, with the gradual implementation of unified management fees and customs digital systems, European import logistics costs and customs clearance rules may still be further adjusted.For cargo owners, cross-border sellers and international logistics companies, it is recommended to continue to pay attention to changes in charging policies of each member state and the EU's subsequent implementation details, and promptly evaluate transportation costs, customs clearance models and supply chain layout to reduce operational risks caused by policy changes.