EU customs reform · Returns policy · Updated 26 October 2026
Two euros - on tope of three Euro? New import costs to Europe to consider. On a returned item, the fees are not refundable.
Quick answer
From 1 November 2026, the EU charges a €2 Union handling fee per item on online orders shipped to EU consumers from outside the EU, at any order value. Customs keeps the fee when goods are returned, even faulty ones, so sellers must decide before peak whether to absorb it, price it in, or pass it on.
The handling fee is charged on the way in and stays with customs on the way back out.In this guide
The Union handling fee is a flat €2 charged on every item in an online order shipped to a consumer in the EU from outside the EU customs territory. The Commission fixed it at €2 in a delegated regulation adopted on 21 September 2026.
The Commission, Irish Revenue and Dutch customs all give 1 November 2026 as the start date. The Commission will review the amount every two years.
What matters is where the goods are when the customer orders, not where the seller is registered. The fee covers a Canadian merchant shipping direct to France, and European brands that fulfil orders outside the EU.
An item a group of goods in one consignment that share the same tariff classification, description and origin and are declared on one line. Dutch customs describes the charge simply as €2 per declaration line. Counting every unit at €2 overstates the cost; counting every parcel at €2 understates it.
| Order contents | Lines | €3 duty | €2 fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 identical T-shirts | 1 | €3 | €2 | €5 |
| 1 T-shirt and 1 belt | 2 | €6 | €4 | €10 |
| 3 T-shirts and 1 watch | 2 | €6 | €4 | €10 |
| Pen, notebook and key ring worth €10 | 3 | €9 | €6 | €15 |
The last row is the one to remember: €15 of fixed charges on €10 of goods. Because classification, description and origin all have to match, two near-identical products split across different subheadings, or the same product sourced from two countries, become two lines and two fees. Cleaning up your HS codes and origin data before November is the cheapest saving available.
A UK retailer ships a €60 order to a customer in Germany: a jumper and a pair of trousers, which fall under two tariff classifications. From November 2026 that order carries €6 in duty and €4 in handling fees, so €10 in fixed charges before VAT. The customer sends both items back.
Returned order · UK to Germany
| Goods, 2 tariff lines | €60.00 |
| Customs duty, 2 × €3 | €6.00 |
| Union handling fee, 2 × €2 | €4.00 |
| Fixed charges before VAT | €10.00 |
| Refunded to customer | €60.00 plus standard delivery |
| Handling fee kept by customs | €4.00 |
| €3 duty kept (goods not faulty) | €6.00 |
| Unrecoverable if the seller paid | €10.00 |
VAT refund treatment is separate and not shown.
The duty is usually lost too. Irish Revenue - for example -says the €3 duty is refunded only when the goods are faulty. Consignments over €150 are different: they pay normal tariff duty, which Irish Revenue says may be refunded if the goods are returned within 90 days.Who pays the €2 depends on how you ship
The fee is best paid by the online seller transparently shown to the consumer at checkout.
Article 13 of the EU Consumer Rights Directive (Directive 2011/83/EU) requires a trader to refund every payment received from a customer who withdraws from an online purchase within the 14-day withdrawal period, including the standard delivery charge. The refund is due without undue delay and no later than 14 days after the trader is told of the withdrawal, although the trader may hold it until the goods arrive back or the customer shows proof of sending them, whichever comes first.
That creates the €2 problem. If you add the fee as its own line at checkout, ask your legal adviser whether it counts as one of those payments. If it does, you refund the €2 to the shopper and cannot recover it from customs, so you pay it twice in effect.
Return postage follows a different rule. Under Article 14 of the Directive, and as the EU's Your Europe guidance puts it, you can ask shoppers to pay the direct cost of returning goods after a change of mind, provided you told them before they bought. Returning faulty goods is at your cost. Itemize every refund message: goods, delivery and any return postage deducted. The customer should be able to follow their refund without understanding customs. Campaigns start earlier every year. IMRG's review of Black Friday 2025 found that 60% of retailers in its panel launched earlier than in 2024, so EU return terms need to be live before the first promotion, not after the first complaint.
From our Montreal team: A most common misreading is that CETA solves this. It does not. CETA preference can reduce or remove customs duty on Canadian-origin goods, but the handling fee is not a duty, so a qualifying product shipped direct to an EU consumer still pays €2 per item.
The structural alternative is to hold stock inside the EU. Contact our team for a consultation: info@jetworldwide.ca.
Jet Worldwide data point. For Canadian sellers, the line count, not the parcel count, is the number to budget against.
Related: the €3 EU customs duty explained and EU product identifiers from 1 November.
No. Customs keeps the €2 once the import declaration is accepted, including for faulty goods.
Yes. If you show it as a separate checkout line, confirm with your legal adviser whether you must refund it when a customer cancels.
Per item, which in practice means per declaration line. Goods in one consignment that share a tariff classification, description and origin count as one item, so five identical T-shirts cost €2 while a T-shirt and a belt cost €4.
Yes. The €2 handling fee applies to e-commerce goods shipped to EU consumers at any value.
No. CETA preference affects customs duty, and the handling fee is not a duty.
No. Dutch customs states that the handling fee is not part of the customs value, so it does not increase the base on which ad valorem duty is calculated.