What the EU's €2 Handling Fee Means for Your Shopify Store

It's been four months since the EU scrapped its €150 duty exemption in favor of a flat €3 customs duty on small parcels, and sellers are already facing their second major customs change of the year.

Since November 1, 2026, every package shipped from outside the bloc to customers within it has carried a new charge: the €2 Union handling fee. It landed right as the holiday shopping season kicked in, which complicates things for a good few stores ahead of Black Friday.

Unlike the €3 duty, which is only in place until July 1, 2028 (when normal tariffs return), the new handling fee is permanent and isn’t limited to low-value orders.

If you missed the first round of changes, our article on the EU's new customs fee is a good place to get caught up. In this follow-up article, we'll walk you through what the new fee covers, how it's charged, and how to get your store ready.

What is the €2 Union handling fee?

The fee is part of the EU Customs Reform, the biggest overhaul of the bloc's customs framework since the customs union was established in 1968. Its new Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) 2026/2108) was adopted in September 2026, and a Commission delegated act published on October 22 sets the handling fee at €2 per item.

Customs authorities in all 27 EU member states have been mandated to collect the fee since November 1, according to the Council of the EU.

It applies whenever goods sold at a distance (shipped from outside the EU straight to a customer inside it) are released for free circulation, which is customs speak for entering the EU market.

The purpose is to cover the costs of customs supervision, from checking import data to carrying out risk analysis and controls.

Interested in all the legal texts? The European Commission's EU Customs Reform page collects everything on one page if you’re curious…

How is the fee calculated?

The important distinction here is that the fee is charged per item, not per parcel.

In customs terms, an “item” is one or more goods sharing the same tariff classification, description, and country of origin, which is why the fee is usually described as applying per product line.

This means that if a parcel contains ten t-shirts, the fee comes to €2 in total. If it contains two hats and ten t-shirts, it comes to €4 because there are two types of goods.

The €2 fee is charged per product line, not per parcel, and it applies regardless of the value of the items.

Unlike the €3 customs duty, which only applies to consignments worth up to €150, the handling fee has no value threshold, and it applies to every distance sale, whether the order is worth €20 or €200.

Both of these fees stack, too, so a single-item order under €150 picks up the €3 in duty and €2 in fees on top of import VAT. Likewise, a multi-item order under €150 could incur multiple fees, depending on how many product lines it contains.

One more thing worth knowing is that the handling fee is non-refundable, even if the customer returns the goods.

Who actually pays the fee?

The fee is collected from whoever declares the goods at customs, usually the seller, their carrier, or their customs broker.

Under the reformed rules, sellers and online platforms that sell into the EU will be responsible for customs formalities and duty payments (instead of the final consumer) once the new code generally applies in September 2027.

EU law also requires the full price to be shown to the customer upfront, so surprise charges aren't really an option. That doesn't stop you from passing the fee on, though. You can add it to your product prices or delivery costs and know that you are compliant as long as the customer sees the full total before they buy.

Why is the EU doing this?

A quick look at statistics from the European Commission shows that 5.9 billion low-value ecommerce items were imported into the EU in 2025 alone, four times the volume recorded in 2022.

According to The Brussels Times, more than 90% of these parcels arrived from China, often via platforms such as AliExpress, Shein, and Temu.

“For years customs have been asked to take on illegal imports with limited resources while small parcels have multiplied out of control,” said Agustín Reyna of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC).

The earlier measures seem to already be having an impact. Since the €3 duty was introduced in July, the EU has reported a drop of more than 60% in small parcel imports, although officials say it's too early to draw any real conclusions.

What can you do in your Shopify store?

A few handy adjustments can go a long way.

First, get your product data up to the required standard. Since the fee is based on each product line, correct HS codes and countries of origin now have a direct effect on the amount you pay, and Shopify needs them on customs declarations anyway.

Next, you need to decide how to incorporate the fee. You could fold it into your EU prices or add it to your shipping rates. Shopify can collect duties and import taxes at checkout for eligible stores, but the handling fee isn’t included as of November 5, 2026.

If your EU sales justify it, you could even look at EU-based fulfillment. Importing stock in bulk and shipping domestically sidesteps the per-item charges, but it also brings its own unique considerations, such as possible VAT registration where you hold inventory.

Lastly, keep an eye on the 2028 changes, which include:

• Normal tariff duties
• A lower handling fee for goods sold from customs warehouses for distance sales
• Mandatory use of the EU's new customs data hub for ecommerce

Ready for the holiday rush?

We know selling to EU customers isn’t exactly straightforward this year, especially now that the rules have changed twice since summer…

Our advice is to treat the fee like any other shipping cost: understand why it’s in place, roll it into your product prices, and always make sure customers see the full (true) price on your product page.

Then there's the paperwork. Orders carrying duties, fees, and VAT need documents compliant in the EU and other key regions.

Sufio automatically creates and sends compliant Shopify invoices with accurate tax calculations for every order. And unlike order printer apps, which regenerate the same document whenever an order changes, Sufio stores every invoice as an independent financial document. When an order is refunded, it issues a credit note instead of altering the invoice, leaving a tidy audit trail for your accountant and for the tax authority.

On the customs side, Sufio's commercial invoices include the HS codes and countries of origin the new rules ask for. If you’re selling across the EU, your customers also get invoices in their own language and currency, and e-invoicing is already supported for stores using ZUGFeRD in Germany, Factur-X or PA in France, Peppol in Belgium, and KSeF in Poland.

If you’d rather spend the holiday season packing orders than fixing invoices, give Sufio a try with our 14-day free trial on the Shopify App Store.