I just had the following notification from TransGlobal Express, the brokers I use when I need to ship things to people, which may be of interest to France-based folks who have stuff sent to them from the UK.
Main change is the removal of the €150 duty exemption!
From 1 July 2026, major changes are expected to apply to shipments imported into the EU. These changes will affect duty application, shipment clearance, and customs information requirements.
The key changes are:
The EUR 150 customs duty relief will be removed for all imports into the EU.
Business-to-consumer (B2C) shipments with goods values below EUR 150 will be subject to a temporary EUR 3 customs duty per HS code until July 2028, when standard duty rules will apply.
All other shipments, including Business-to-Business (B2B) shipments under EUR 150, will be subject to standard customs duty.
B2C shipments under EUR 150 must be cleared in the destination country unless using IOSS, which may affect courier routing and service availability.
The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) will continue to apply to VAT only. It will not be used to collect and remit the EUR 3 customs duty.
Where IOSS is used, shipments may need to be **sent on Delivered Duty Paid (DDP)**shipping terms. Duty and admin fees will be calculated and charged at the time of booking, where applicable. Please note that admin fees vary between services.
Looking ahead, from 1 November 2026, product identifiers are expected to become mandatory for all B2C shipments under EUR 150. An additional EU administration fee of around EUR 2 is also expected.
To prepare, please ensure your product descriptions and HS codes are accurate, catalogue merchant and manufacturer product IDs (if applicable), and review your landed costs for EU shipments. Accurate shipment data will be increasingly important to avoid delays and ensure duties are calculated correctly.
We are updating our systems to reflect the new requirements and monitoring carrier-specific developments across the EU. We will share further updates once carriers confirm their final processes.
Using a shipping broker like TransGlobal Express may be a good idea if you have relatives wanting to send you stuff - they should take care of the necessary paperwork, though I haven’t personally used them for a shipment to France.
They were however a lot cheaper than Parcel2Go when I recently sent my astro camera back for repair - a FedEx pickup with next day delivery was cheaper than Royal Snail!
Yep. Many carriers have already adopted these changes and ignore the 150 allowance, and when challenged, they just say, ok, we will return the parcel. ie they are not interested in the small stuff when there are richer pickings higher up.
Another brexshit benefit.
Talking of which, why is it that one cannot find (insert here, the word for an illegitimate..) brexshit voter after the event? I want desperately to smack one, but just cannot find them.
Ha ha. And complaining about only being allowed to stay 90/180 days if they didn’t get round to doing the resident card paperwork. They never seem to blame Bozo and Frosty for making us third country nationals.
It’s a great idea Chris. While it’ll cause me some inconvenience and expense with Amazon.co.uk and other stuff I need from the UK (Morgan bits for example), it’s primary intention, to knock cheap Chinese tat on the head, is a good one.
“4.6 billion low-cost packages were imported into the EU in 2024, with 91% coming from China.”
Chinese tat is right. I ordered what appeared to be a tall xmas tree table light from Amazon last autumn as a table centre piece as it showed it against plates etc and looked very imposing. What I received was the exact tree but only 3” tall instead of the 10”. I kept though, not worth the aggro of getting the car out to go to the next town to send it back and it was also broken but I glued the bottom back on. Shan’t be doing that again
How annoying. Did you complain to Amazon? Last time I needed to complain about a low value item, the seller told me to keep the item but sent a refund. We thought it wasn’t worth them paying the postage for a return given the item cost.
There’s nothing wrong with cheap Chinese tat. I have bought loads of stuff that I never knew I needed until I saw their Web site. Then there is the fun of finding even more useful tat so that you get free delivery.
Alternatively, you could buy locally and get expensive Chinese tat.
My understanding is that it is to defend British businesses from the Chinese direct suppliers who take advantage of the Universal Postal Union to send low value product to the UK both duty free and more cheaply than the internal UK cost. See this about UPU.
The hidden issue is whether the Morgan bits supplier can be a***d with the extra paperwork. Amazon -;eBay - vendors of Chinese tat just absorb it into their systems and add a few euros on.
Stuff China. They are not playing games, they will screw any and every business in the West if they can. I’ve been saying that for thirty years. Ever since a senior colleague returning from a five year assignment there briefed me on what was happening.
The West’s lead in IP was squandered in search of higher EPS. A ridiculously short term strategy driven by quarterly reporting and share options (aligning executive and shareholder objectives, AKA greed).
Disclosure: I did do rather well from options myself at the time Hypocrite, moi?
But now we need to fight China economically, on the beaches, etc. I’ll never surrender and drive one of their shitty cars
To be fair the two Morgan dealers I deal with (and the factory) couldn’t be more helpful. Each car is sort of a one off and you do need their help. The cost of the parts is reasonable too
Regarding more volume based business I’m sure you are right.
It’s the EU doing this, the UK isn’t. That’s what the thread is all about. That’s why brexit is being blamed for increasing the cost of packages from the UK.
Not wishing to preempt the SF Christmas panto… oh yes they are
Good point. Now, since the target for both the EU and the UK is China, why didn’t the UK negotiate (now that that they have “taken back control”) a deal with the EU to avoid the UK being included in this highly visible inhibiter to EU/UK trade? That’ve been a bit of a win/win, wouldn’t it (and good for us )
Lazy politicians, lazy advisors, lazy civil service. Otherwise a dream team
It takes two to tango and it’s the usual exceptionalism to expect that the UK can just “negotiate” it’s way out of the negatives of being a 3rd country.
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