Without a doubt, one of the most disruptive developments of the year in eCommerce has been the entry into force of the 3-euro fee per package valued at less than €150 (with all its specific details) coming from outside the EU. With this measure, EU authorities were pursuing two goals: to reduce the avalanche of packages arriving at our borders every year and, of course, to protect European eCommerce businesses from competition from the major Chinese marketplaces specializing in low-priced products.
That measure came into effect on July 1, and as we have been reporting over the past few months, its impact has been undeniable. From the signs of decline at AliExpress, Shein, and Temu reflected in the app download rankings to the limited explanations offered by public officials in different countries, everything seems to indicate that the measure has worked.
And there is still another one yet to come into force.
This is not new. In fact, we told you about it months ago: the European Commission was preparing a second fee applicable to shipments coming from outside the EU’s borders. It will have an impact of two euros per customs item, and it will take effect on November 1.
In other words, very soon.
As we explained in “Double toll for low-cost eCommerce”, this fee, referred to as a “handling fee” or, if you prefer, a management or handling fee, was created to offset the costs customs authorities face in dealing with the massive volume of shipments we receive every year, for which the EU’s customs infrastructure was not prepared.
The fee, which the EU refers to with the acronym UHF, consists of a fixed amount of two euros per item, and it will be collected by customs authorities as payment for the services provided to process a request to place goods under the release-for-free-circulation procedure, when those goods are the subject of distance sales. The Commission’s idea is for these two euros to cover expenses related to data verification, risk analysis, infrastructure, and the relevant controls.
But take note: this two-euro fee will not apply only to low-value imports, but to any import. In the Commission’s own words, it will be charged “regardless of the value of the items. This means that goods sent in consignments with a value exceeding 150 euros are also subject to the handling fee, provided they were sold in a transaction that qualifies as a distance sale. Unlike the temporary 3-euro customs duty, this handling fee is not time-limited, as it is not provisional in nature.”
As you can see, the requirement is that they come from an import transaction classified as a distance sale. In this regard, EU authorities define this as a transaction in which a seller or a platform acting as the supplier for customs purposes sells a product to a customer in the EU and ships it or arranges its shipment, directly or indirectly, from outside the customs territory of the Union. Perhaps that is why companies such as AliExpress have taken steps aimed at mitigating the impact of the three-euro fee, such as boosting shipments from local warehouses already located within the EU.
And note that, as in the case of the three-euro fee, the UHF is not applied “per package” or “per item,” but rather for each unique reference included in that package.
In addition, just as with the three-euro duty, the UHF is not applied per package nor necessarily per physical product, but rather per line in the customs declaration corresponding to those products. In other words, if a shipment contains three T-shirts of the same type, the UHF will be two euros, whereas if, for example, it contains a cotton T-shirt, a linen T-shirt, and a jacket, it could be 2+2+2=6 euros. The amount will depend, among other factors, on the tariff classification and the type of declaration used for each item.
Looking ahead, this scenario may evolve: Brussels has explained that starting on July 1, 2028, a reduced amount will apply to certain goods sold at a distance from specific customs warehouses, although we still do not have more concrete details about that reduction.
As you can see, once again the businesses most affected by this measure will (probably) be the low-cost marketplaces, the same ones that, as we have seen in the case of Shein and Temu, have already been heavily impacted by the three-euro measure activated in July. These are low-margin shipments in which customers buy because they are drawn in by a hypercompetitive price.
If you keep adding fees, euro by euro, that price will hardly be able to compete with products sold directly from European soil.
Image: ChatGPT
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