On 1 July 2026, the European Union introduced a customs duty of at least €3 on every parcel, charged per HS code line on all cross-border eCommerce goods valued under €150 — affecting approximately 93% of all EU imports from non-EU sellers.
Whether you are based in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or elsewhere, if you are shipping products to customers in the EU, this new duty will apply to every order you dispatch. For many retailers, that means thousands — or tens of thousands — of euros in new costs every single month.
Eurobase offers a simple, proven solution: store your inventory inside the EU, ship from our Irish facility, and the €3 duty does not apply — on a single order.
| Effective Date | 1 July 2026 |
| Charge | A customs duty of at least €3 on every parcel, charged per HS code line |
| Scope | All goods under €150 shipped from outside the EU |
| Coverage | ~93% of all cross-border eCommerce imports into the EU |
| Duration | In place until mid-2028, when full tariff classification replaces the flat duty |
| Extra Costs | Some member states are adding national charges on top. Romania already charges about €5 a parcel, and Italy has legislated a €2 fee that has not yet started. |
Consider a retailer dispatching 1,000 orders per month with an average of three items per order:
| Scenario | Monthly Cost | Annual Impact |
| Shipping direct from outside EU (1,000 orders, avg. 3 items) | €3,000 in duties | €36,000 in duties |
| Fulfillment via Eurobase EU warehouse | €0 in duties | €36,000 saved |
This is not a one-off cost — it is a permanent structural change to your EU fulfillment economics. Businesses that continue to ship directly from outside the EU now face this burden on every single order, indefinitely.
01EU Location — Duty EliminatedGoods stored and shipped from our Irish facility carry no cross-border customs exposure. The €3 duty is wholly avoided, creating immediate, quantifiable savings on every order dispatched. |
02English as the Business LanguageUnlike most continental European providers, Eurobase operates entirely in English. Onboarding, support, documentation and communication are seamless — no translation layers, no misunderstandings. |
03Euro-Denominated EconomyOperating within the Eurozone creates natural currency alignment with your EU customers. Pricing, invoicing and financial planning are simplified, and FX risk is substantially reduced. |
04Ireland’s Tax EnvironmentIreland’s 12.5% corporate tax rate on trading income is among the most competitive in the EU — a well-understood structural advantage for international eCommerce operations establishing a European presence if you later establish an Irish entity. |
From 1 November 2026, every consumer parcel entering the EU needs an item-level customs declaration, with a merchant product identifier and a manufacturer product identifier for each distinct product. Most online retailers do not yet hold manufacturer identifiers in their shipping data.
Stock held in Ireland enters the EU once, as a commercial import. Orders then go out to customers as domestic EU parcels, so neither the €3 duty nor the product identifier rules apply. We despatch same day, and transit is generally two to four days anywhere in Europe.
Moving stock takes planning, so the brands that start the conversation now can be live in Ireland early in the new year, without moving stock in the middle of peak.
The steps to get started are straightforward: