Additional handling fee adds another 2 euros to the cost of e-commerce packages

The European Commission wants to set the additional handling fee for small packages from outside the EU at 2 euros. The measure primarily affects packages from Chinese online retailers such as Shein, Temu, and Alibaba.

Supporting customs services

The European Parliament and the member states reached an agreement earlier this year on the reform of the customs union, but the Commission still had to set the amount of the handling fee. The proposal is now to set the amount at 2 euros. The member states and the European Parliament have one more month to weigh in on the proposal.

The processing fee, which would then take effect in November, is in addition to the 3-euro import tax on packages valued at less than 150 euros, which has been in effect since July of this year. With this tax, the EU aims to support European customs services, which are unable to inspect the entire influx of packages (5.8 billion last year). European retailers have long complained about unfair competition, particularly from Chinese online retailers.