At a glance: From July 1, 2026, the EU ends its de minimis exemption for shipments valued at €150 or less, introducing a €3 customs duty per declaration line. Alongside this, the EU now requires three product identifiers — Merchant Product Identifier, Non-standardised Manufacturer Product Identifier, and Standardised Manufacturer Product Identifier (where applicable) — for every item in such shipments, with B2B VAT-registered imports excluded. Couriers recommend adding these identifiers to commercial invoices starting June 15, 2026, giving businesses a two-week window to prepare before missing data turns into clearance failures on July 1.
What’s Changing
From July 1, 2026, the European Union will end the “de minimis” exemption that has allowed goods in shipments with an intrinsic value not exceeding €150 to enter the EU without import duty. From that date, a €3 customs duty will be applied per line of the customs import declaration for such shipments — with each declaration able to contain one or more items depending on tariff classification.
Alongside the new duty, the EU Commission is introducing a separate and equally important requirement: mandatory product identifiers for every item in scope.
The Three Product Identifiers
For each product imported into the EU customs territory in a shipment with an intrinsic value not exceeding €150 — with the exception of B2B VAT-registered imports — three codes must be submitted to customs authorities during the clearance process.
Action Required From Today — June 15
This effectively creates a two-week operational runway: businesses that update their commercial invoice templates and data feeds now will have shipments flowing correctly by the time the July 1 duty change takes effect. Those that wait until July 1 risk clearance failures from day one.
Who Is Affected
The requirement applies to any goods sold direct to consumers and through marketplaces, with an intrinsic value not exceeding €150, imported into the EU. B2B VAT-registered imports are not impacted.
In practice, this means the requirement falls squarely on e-commerce sellers, dropshippers, and marketplace vendors shipping low-value consumer goods to EU customers — a segment that has grown significantly as Vietnamese manufacturers and traders increasingly sell direct-to-consumer via platforms serving European markets.
Customs brokers acting on behalf of shippers will have to submit these three identifiers in the customs entry to authorities during the clearance process. Missing these requirements will lead to the impossibility of clearing shipments. Until the information is provided, goods cannot be cleared by customs authorities and delivered to the recipient. For e-commerce businesses, this translates directly into stuck shipments, refund requests, and customer service costs from day one of the new regime.
The Bigger Picture: EU Customs Reform Is Accelerating
This change is part of a broader EU Customs Reform package affecting low-value imports, several elements of which take effect on the same July 1 date. The end of the de minimis exemption brings the new €3 customs duty per declaration line for shipments not exceeding €150. VAT rules remain unchanged — the VAT de minimis exemption was already removed in 2021, and all goods imported into the EU are subject to VAT regardless of value.
The European Commission has also proposed an EU-wide handling fee for low-value goods, to be introduced at a later stage, with further updates expected as details are confirmed. Separately, France has already introduced its own national “taxe sur les petits colis” (TPC) effective March 1, 2026 — a €2 per-item tax on low-value imports from outside the EU, which will remain in place until the EU-wide handling fee is adopted.
Should You Register for IOSS?
The optional EU Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme allows e-commerce suppliers and marketplaces to declare and pay VAT for distance sales of goods not exceeding €150 at the point of sale, rather than at the point of import. While IOSS will not collect the new €3 customs duty in the short term, it still simplifies VAT collection, reduces the risk of delivery delays, and improves the customer experience by ensuring taxes are clear at checkout.
For businesses that haven’t yet evaluated IOSS, the July 1 changes are a natural trigger to do so — particularly given that the broader direction of EU policy is toward more, not less, data and tax collection at the point of sale.
What Businesses Should Do Now
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1Update commercial invoice templates immediatelyAdd fields for all three product identifiers — Merchant Product Identifier, Non-standardised Manufacturer Product Identifier, and Standardised Manufacturer Product Identifier (where applicable) — and ensure these are populated for every line item on EU-bound shipments from June 15 onward.
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2Audit your product catalog for identifier availabilityIf your products don’t currently have SKUs, manufacturer codes, or standardized barcodes (GTIN/EAN) recorded in your systems, this is the time to populate that data — not after shipments start failing clearance on July 1.
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3Coordinate with your courier or freight forwarderConfirm how they want the three identifiers formatted and transmitted — on the commercial invoice, through an API, or via a separate data feed — and test this with a sample shipment before July 1.
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4Evaluate IOSS registrationIf you sell direct-to-consumer into the EU and haven’t registered for IOSS, assess whether it fits your business model ahead of the de minimis removal.
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5Review pricing for the €3 per-line dutyFor high-volume, low-margin e-commerce sellers, a €3 charge per declaration line can materially affect unit economics. Factor this into pricing or shipping fee structures before July 1.
Looking Ahead
The two-week window between June 15 and July 1 is the practical preparation period for this change. Businesses that act now — updating invoices, populating product identifier data, and testing with their logistics provider — will avoid the clearance disruptions that are likely to affect those who wait until the new rules are already in force.
Voltrans Logistics will continue to monitor EU Customs Reform developments, including the proposed EU-wide handling fee, and publish updates as further details are confirmed.