Small Parcel Duty: What the €3 Duty and the Handling Fee Mean for Cosmetics Brands

Since 1 July 2026, every small parcel worth less than €150 entering the European Union carries a flat-rate customs duty of €3, decided by the Council of the EU on 12 December 2025. And this is only a first step: a separate handling fee, stemming from the customs reform agreed politically on 26 March 2026, is to be applied by the Member States by 1 November 2026 at the latest. This “small parcel duty” is aimed first and foremost at low-cost sales platforms, but it also affects, more quietly, cosmetics brands that ship, import or resell products from outside the Union. With less than four weeks to go before the November deadline, here is what it changes in practice, player by player.

What the texts provide, in chronological order

The first tier is the flat-rate €3 duty. According to the Council of the EU press release of 12 December 2025, it applies to low-value consignments under €150 from 1 July 2026. The amount is due per category of items, that is, per tariff heading, and not per parcel: the French government’s public information service (in French) illustrates the principle with a parcel containing three different categories taxed at €9. The scheme is presented as temporary, until the duty exemption for small consignments is permanently abolished, which is planned for 2028. The Council justifies the measure by what it considers unfair competition for European sellers, but also by consumer safety and the environment, noting that around 4.6 billion small consignments entered the Union in 2024, the vast majority from China.

The second tier is the handling fee. In its press release of 26 March 2026, the Council states that it and the Parliament agreed on a fee charged by customs authorities on small consignments sold at a distance, the level of which will be set by a Commission delegated act, to be applied by the Member States by 1 November 2026 at the latest. An amount of €2 per parcel has been mentioned in the press, but this was a proposal: the official act will have to be awaited. In addition, France suspended its own €2 national tax, applied since 1 March, on 1 July 2026 to make way for the European scheme. This still-shifting timetable is a first reason not to set prices on a single assumption.

Definition. A “small parcel” here means a low-value consignment, worth less than €150, entering the European Union from a non-EU country, generally following a distance sale.

Online brands: the delivery arithmetic is changing

For a cosmetics brand selling directly to European consumers, the impact depends first on a simple question: where does the parcel ship from? A brand that ships from a warehouse located in the Union is not affected by this duty on entry. One that delivers to its European customers from Asia, the United Kingdom or the United States, in small parcels under €150, will see each shipment become more expensive. Beauty products fall under Chapter 33 of the customs tariff, which distinguishes in particular between perfumes, make-up or skincare products and hair products. A parcel containing a fragrance, a face cream and a shampoo therefore covers, in principle, three tariff headings, and so three times €3. For an average basket of a few tens of euros, the proportion is far from trivial.

The same reasoning applies to pricing strategy. In a survey of Gen Z consumers in the United States, the research company Attest found that 58% of them rank price as their top purchasing criterion in beauty: this is a US survey that cannot be transposed as it stands to Europe, but it is a reminder that price sensitivity among young shoppers is real. Absorbing the duty in the margin, passing it on, or grouping purchases to limit the number of tariff headings per parcel are three options, each with its own effects on conversion. The best-prepared brands simulate these scenarios on their three or four most frequent baskets before settling on a delivery policy.

Retailers, marketplaces and resellers: a competitive advantage at stake

For retailers and resellers established in the Union, the scheme looks like a rebalancing. The Council itself presented it as a response to the unfair competition experienced by European sellers: for the same value, a parcel from a seller outside the Union now costs more on entry. Retailers and online shops that already source from the European market may see it as an argument to defend their prices, provided they do not overestimate it: a €3 duty per category does not, on its own, close the price gap of certain offers sold at very low prices.

For marketplaces, the question is more operational. Third-party sellers shipping from abroad will have to factor these costs into their offers, and the platform will have to decide what it shows the customer: an all-inclusive price or charges on delivery. A cosmetics reseller working with suppliers outside the Union has every interest in asking each of them now where their parcels actually ship from, and in what form (as single consignments or in batches). This mapping of flows, which is simple to draw up, avoids discovering the real cost on the first customs statement.

Manufacturers, SMEs and major houses: what Clear sees in the field

Manufacturers and major houses are less exposed to the small parcel duty, since they mainly ship pallets and batches to distributors. They are more exposed indirectly: their brands circulate on platforms, their products are sometimes resold in parallel from abroad, and their logistics teams have to explain the new situation to the markets. At Clear, an EU / UK / US cosmetic regulatory compliance firm, we see in the field that these customs changes are rarely handled by the same team as the rest of the product file. The logistics department follows the tariff, the marketing department sets prices, and no one looks at the whole journey of a product sold to a European consumer from a non-EU country.

Yet this is where unpleasant surprises lie. A cosmetic product placed on the European market generally requires a Responsible Person established in the Union and a product notification: these obligations do not disappear because the parcel is small or the seller is abroad. For anyone shipping to Europe from a non-EU country, the question of customs duties should therefore be dealt with together with compliance, not after it. Brands that have already mapped their flows, by country of dispatch and by channel, are approaching November with much greater peace of mind. To explore these issues further from an industry perspective, our page dedicated to supporting players in the cosmetics industry presents the different aspects of our work.

Five steps to take before 1 November

With a timetable still being clarified, the right stance is neither wait-and-see nor haste. Rather than a full plan, a few simple steps can reduce uncertainty and preserve room for manoeuvre for the festive season, when small parcel volumes are traditionally at their highest.

1. Map your flows: country of dispatch, average parcel value, number of different products per shipment.
2. Simulate the cost of the €3 duty per tariff heading on your most frequent baskets, then test an assumption for the handling fee.
3. Choose a rule for displaying prices and delivery charges before the festive period, to avoid changes mid-campaign.
4. Consider a logistics hub in the Union for your best-selling products, weighing up the cost of tied-up stock.
5. Check the compliance of the whole journey: Responsible Person, product notification, labelling in the language of the country of sale. Our page on cosmetic regulations sets out the general framework.

One lesson comes up every time customs rules change: brands that treat customs as a simple cost line lose time, whereas those that build it into their business model, just like the purchase price or the distributor discount, keep their margin. The small parcel duty is probably not the last change of its kind: the Council itself presents the 2026 scheme as a step towards 2028.

Frequently asked questions

Is my parcel of cosmetics subject to the €3 duty?

It is if it enters the Union from a non-EU country and is worth less than €150. Parcels shipped from a warehouse located in the Union are not affected on entry. The duty is calculated per category of items, not per parcel, so a shipment combining fragrances, skincare and hair products may incur several duties. For a specific case, the reference remains the customs declaration and the competent authorities.

Is the amount of the handling fee known?

Not definitively at the date of this article. The Council has stated that the level will be set by a Commission delegated act, to apply by 1 November 2026 at the latest. The figure of €2 per parcel has circulated, but it corresponds to a proposal reported by the press. It is therefore wise to build several assumptions rather than announce a firm price to your customers today.

Does France still apply its €2 national tax?

According to the French public information service, the national tax applied since 1 March 2026 has been suspended since 1 July 2026, the date the €3 European duty came into force. Other Member States have adopted their own schemes: if you sell in several countries, check the situation in each one with your freight forwarder or the relevant customs administration.

In short: since 1 July 2026, small parcels under €150 entering the Union carry a flat-rate duty of €3 per category of items, and a handling fee, the amount of which has yet to be confirmed, is due to apply by 1 November 2026 at the latest. Cosmetics brands shipping from non-EU countries to European consumers should simulate the effect on their baskets, choose a price display rule and check the compliance of the product’s entire journey.

Selling or importing cosmetics into Europe from a non-EU country and want to secure the whole journey, from product compliance to delivery to the customer? Clear’s teams are at your disposal: contact us to discuss it.