The EU is introducing a €3 charge on parcels from Shein and Temu from today, and logistics firms warn: “The challenge is to prevent customs from becoming overwhelmed”

Brussels is ending a tax exemption that has benefited Asian platforms for years, whilst the sector is calling for an urgent modernisation of customs systems to cope with the 12 million parcels entering the EU every day.

From this Wednesday, shopping on Shein or Temu will cost more. The European Union has introduced a €3 levy on all parcels valued at less than €150 entering the EU, a measure through which Brussels aims to curb the flood of low-cost shipments from Asia and put an end to a tax exemption that has for years favoured these platforms over European producers.

That exemption, which applied to imports worth less than 150 euros, was introduced to avoid an excessive administrative burden on customs authorities, long before the boom in e-commerce. But the situation has changed completely: the EU now receives around 4,600 million low-cost parcels a year – some 12 million a day – of which Brussels estimates that 90 per cent come from China. What was once a bureaucratic simplification has thus become a competitive advantage that EU producers, subject to higher costs and regulatory requirements, do not enjoy.

So how does the charge work? The €3 is applied for each different tariff category contained in the parcel, not per item, provided the final purchase amount is less than €150. A parcel containing four T-shirts will incur a charge of €3, whilst one containing four T-shirts and a watch will incur double that amount – €6 – as these fall into two different categories.

This system has set alarm bells ringing in the logistics sector. Operators warn that the problem is not just the volume of parcels, but the operational complexity introduced by the new model. A single parcel may require several classifications and customs declarations, multiplying the administrative burden. Given the 12 million daily shipments arriving in the EU, the sector warns of an exponential increase in administrative procedures which, in its view, current infrastructure is not equipped to handle without a significant boost in staff, technology and automation.

In this regard, the employers’ organisation UNO is calling for a far-reaching modernisation of European customs systems, with fully digitised processes, real-time data integration between e-commerce platforms and public authorities, and a simplification of tariff classification that minimises manual intervention. It is also calling for a genuine European single window to prevent differing interpretations between Member States.

“The system will only work if it is fully automated. Without that transformation, the risk is not just the cost, but operational gridlock,” warned UNO’s president, Francisco Aranda, who emphasised the need to accompany the measure with a sufficient transition period and pilot schemes to allow for a phased roll-out.

Added to this challenge is…