EU Council: customs will also apply to imported goods worth less than €150
The EU Council has agreed to abolish the €150 threshold below which customs duties are not payable on goods imported into the EU. The new measure should be introduced on a transitional basis as early as 2026, with full implementation in 2028.
EU finance ministers have agreed to abolish the €150 threshold for applying customs duties on imports into the EU. Once the new rules are in place, customs duties will be levied on all goods imported into the EU, starting from the first euro of value. This will align the customs treatment with the VAT rules on imported goods, which have been in force since 2021.
The new obligation will take effect after the launch of the EU Customs Data Hub, which is currently planned for 2028. Given the urgency of the situation, the Council has committed to preparing a transitional measure that will allow customs duties to be levied on small consignments as early as 2026, i.e. before the data hub is launched. Work on this transitional arrangement will continue in the coming weeks. Preliminary discussions are focusing on the possibility of imposing a temporary levy of EUR 2 on the value of each parcel, starting in the second quarter of 2026.