The EU Commission still needs to determine the amount of the processing fee. This levy is intended to cover the increased costs due to the rise in small shipments from online trade, such as for inspection and control upon import.

New EU Fee: Customs Duties for Small Packages from Third Countries Also Coming

Packages with a value of up to 150 euros can currently be imported into the community duty-free. However, to counter unwanted cheap imports, a fee of three euros will apply from July for each package with a value up to 150 euros. This measure is intended to be temporary until a new digital platform for processing and control is launched, and then all goods imported into the EU will be subject to duty from the first euro. This is currently planned for 2028.

By abolishing the exemption limit, it is intended to ensure that all traders - regardless of their location - have the same competitive conditions. Whether cheap products will become more expensive due to the new levies is still unclear. Theoretically, producers or importers could also absorb the additional costs.

Rules Likely to Affect Online Retailers Like Shein, Temu, or Amazon

The new rules are likely to affect online retailers such as Shein, Temu, AliExpress, or even Amazon. In recent years, online trade has led to an exponential increase in deliveries of small low-value goods packages to the EU. According to the EU Commission, around twelve million packages arrived in the EU daily in 2024, significantly more than in the previous two years.

Temu is an online marketplace where numerous companies sell various goods. The Chinese company repeatedly attracts attention with mini prices and high discounts. Products are often delivered directly from the manufacturer to the customer. The fashion company Shein, founded in China and now based in Singapore, is both a manufacturer and retailer as well as a marketplace. Both providers are controversial. Politicians, trade representatives, and consumer advocates criticize, among other things, product quality, lack of controls, and unfair competitive conditions.

In addition to the new processing fee, further measures as part of the reform of the EU customs framework are intended to facilitate global trade, collect duties more efficiently, and tighten controls on non-compliant, dangerous, or unsafe goods, as the EU countries announced.

Domestic Trade Welcomes EU Fee Against Cheap Imports

WKÖ trade chairman Rainer Trefelik welcomed the introduction of the processing fee in a statement on Friday. This is an "important step towards fairer competitive conditions." At the same time, he called for further measures and their consistent and unbureaucratic implementation. He insisted, among other things, on a higher density of controls on imports, consistent implementation of platform responsibility for large online providers, a reform of the EU customs system, and strengthened measures against unfair practices in online trade. "If all providers play by the same rules, consumers as well as the business location Austria benefit," said Trefelik. Trade association managing director Rainer Will also welcomed the measure and called for "seamless" enforcement, digital control processes, and sanction options. "Anyone participating in the internal market must also adhere to European rules," added trade association president Stephan Mayer-Heinisch.

SPÖ-EU representative Elisabeth Grossmann also welcomed the measure on Friday. With regard to the flood of goods and the assurance of European standards, it is important "that the EU puts a stop to this uncontrolled flow of goods with the introduction of new processing fees and the planned abolition of the customs exemption limit," said the SPÖ politician.

The environmental organization Greenpeace, meanwhile, called for platform liability for online platforms like Shein or Temu, so that they "actually take responsibility for the products they sell." Because "dangerous and sometimes banned products" continue to reach the European market. "If these platforms systematically violate rules, they must be punished or banned," said Greenpeace consumer expert Madeleine Drescher.

(APA/Red)

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