A €2 handling fee for shipments arriving from countries outside the European Union entered into force on November 1 under EU Regulation 2026/2108. The charge applies regardless of the value of the goods and is intended to help cover rising customs-control costs, pending the mandatory use of the European customs Data Hub from July 1, 2028.
The fee comes on top of a temporary €3 duty introduced on July 1, 2026, for imported distance-sales shipments with a total intrinsic value of no more than €150. The measure followed the end of the de minimis exemption for low-value goods. The €3 charge applies to each type of item identified under a separate customs classification, even when the products are shipped together.
For example, a package containing a cotton shirt and a wool sweater bought from a non-EU platform for less than €150 would incur €6 in duties because the products belong to different customs categories. Adding the €2 handling fee brings the additional charge to €8 before VAT, or €12.20 including VAT. According to the source, this represents €10 in extra costs compared with purchasing the same products a year earlier, before VAT is applied.
The measures are intended to curb the rapid growth in low-value imports. European Commission data cited in the report show that the number of low-value parcels cleared in the EU rose from 1.4 billion in 2022 to 5.8 billion in 2025. Shipments from China accounted for 93% of the total.
Italy has already recorded a decline in low-value imports. The Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency reported that import declarations for non-EU parcels worth less than €150 fell by 31% between January and September 2026. During July and August, low-cost imports were 39% lower than in the previous two-month period, while revenue from the new European duty reached €83 million.
Roberto Alesse, director of the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency, said the handling fee could further affect very low-value shipments by making it less convenient to split purchases into multiple parcels.
Industry data also point to weaker flows. Lucia Padoan, vice president of Anama, said e-commerce shipments accounted for 12% of shipments arriving from outside the EU through Milan Malpensa in February 2026, down from 29% in February 2025. The share fell to 11% in July. She noted that the figures are not broken down by product value, but suggested that lower-value shipments could be particularly affected by the new fee.
DHL Express reported an initial, slight contraction in small parcels arriving from outside the EU after July 1. Nazzarena Franco, president and CEO of DHL Express Italy, said it was too early to assess the long-term impact, suggesting that logistics and distribution models could gradually evolve, with more infrastructure located in Europe and changes to how shipments are organized across the supply chain.
Sources: Il Sole 24 Ore Italia.