\n Published on 13\/11\/2025 – 18:01 GMT+1
\n \u2022Updated
\n 18:04\n <\/p>\n
The EU 27 economy ministers reached an agreement on Thursday to terminate the \u20ac150 customs duty exemption that currently applies to parcels coming from non-EU countries.<\/p>\n
The decision will impact Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as Shein and Temu, which are flooding the EU market with small parcels. In France, Shein is also at the centre of a scandal, facing legal proceedings over the sale of child-like sex dolls on its platform.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a defining moment,\u201d European Commissioner for Trade Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d said after the meeting, adding that the move \u201csends a strong signal that Europe is serious about fair competition and defending the interests of its businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
A whopping 4.6 billion parcels were imported in the EU in 2024, EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis recalled on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He warned that the trend is \u201cdramatically increasing,\u201d adding that 91% of small parcels come from China.<\/p>\n
The decision to remove the exemption on small parcels is part of a broader overhaul of EU customs rules which could take time.<\/p>\n
Urgency to act as Chinese goods flood market<\/strong><\/p>\n The 27 member states are expected to meet again in December to agree on a temporary system that would enable the implementation of the measures.<\/p>\n EU trade commissioner \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d said that the EU will be ready to move as early as 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cEnding the exemption will close long-standing loopholes that have been routinely exploited to avoid customs duties,\u201d a European diplomat said.<\/p>\n The agreement reached Thursday by EU ministers means customs duties will be payable from “the first euro” on all goods entering the EU, like value-added tax, according to the same official.<\/p>\n The latest moves signal the tide may be turning for Chinese e-commerce platforms that have been moving aggressively into the European market.<\/p>\n A \u20ac2 levy for small packages proposed in July by the European Commission is already being discussed by the 27 member states.<\/p>\n Individual member states are also introducing national measures. Italy is working on a tax to defend its fashion industry from a wave of cheaper Chinese orders which national producers cannot compete with on pricing. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are satisfied with the measure introducing a tax on small parcels from non-EU countries, a phenomenon that is destroying retail trade,\u201d Italian Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Thursday.<\/p>\n EuroCommerce, which represents EU retailers in Brussels, first sounded the alarm over the increase in orders coming from Chinese platforms last month and called on European authorities to act in a coordinated manner. <\/p>\n \u201cA swift, harmonised EU solution is essential, as such proposals risk fragmentation and undermining the level playing field,\u201d Christel Delberghe, director general of EuroCommerce, said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 13\/11\/2025 – 18:01 GMT+1 \u2022Updated 18:04 The EU 27 economy ministers reached an agreement on Thursday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[180473,2000,7221,299,5187,1216,8162,31868,12923],"class_list":{"0":"post-568111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-custom-duty","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-eu-policy","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-maros-sefcovic","14":"tag-shein","15":"tag-temu","16":"tag-valdis-dombrovskis"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115543690883762026","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}