The EU Parliament and the European Council voted on Thursday to introduce handling fees for small packages arriving from outside the bloc starting on November 1.
The comprehensive fee, which will have to be determined by the European Commission, will likely be around €2 ($2.30) per package and will come on top of customs duties of €3 per package on purchases up to €150.
The customs duty is scheduled to take effect in July.
The move is largely in response to a flood of goods arriving in Europe from cheap Chinese online platforms such as Shein, Teemu and AliExpress, as well as Amazon. The EU says 5.9 million such packages could arrive in the bloc in 2025, with 90% of them originating in China.
EU customs agents can’t cope with the flood of dangerous packages coming from China
Another issue that prompted the move is the fact that the sheer volume of packages coming into the EU means that customs officials have little chance of inspecting each one thoroughly.
For example, consumer rights groups say more than 90% of discounted items on Chinese platforms contain dangerous chemicals that are illegal in the European Union.
The new fee approved Thursday will be used partly to hire more customs agents.
In addition to giving the green light to new handling charges, the European law also sets out fines for companies found guilty of violating EU safety rules.
These measures, which will take effect in 2028, mean that if it is proven that they have exported hazardous materials to the EU, a company could be hit with a financial fine equivalent to 6% of all revenue generated from annual exports to the bloc.
Consumer groups hail move against dangerous Chinese imports
European consumer organization BEUC welcomed the move, citing the threat posed by dangerous goods entering the EU, with the group highlighting deadly toys that pose a risk to children as well as “textiles drenched in banned chemicals”.
In addition, EU customers have also complained about the poor quality of products from Chinese sites, as well as difficulty understanding the rules for returning packages, consumer rights groups say.
The German Trade Association (HDE) estimates that the Shein and Temu platforms alone send approximately 400,000 packages every day to customers in Germany, generating revenues of between €2.7 and €3.3 billion in 2024.
HDE data shows that more than 14 million Germans will buy items from the platforms in 2025.
Edited by: Alex Berry