Small parcels: currently, there is only a €3 tariff, but the new EU tax will also come into force
The European handling fee is also due to come into force by 1 November, and the amount for this will need to be determined. The Italian ‘mini-tax’ has been postponed until 30 November
Key points
Tariffs. European tax. Italian tax. For small parcels (worth up to 150 euros) coming from non-EU countries, there is a veritable tangle of charges already in place or due to come into effect. The only certainty at present is the three-euro tariff that came into force on 1 July, which generated 83 million euros in revenue in the first two months of its application for parcels entering Italia. However, the 39 per cent drop in imports recorded over the two-month period of July and August compared with the previous two months appears even more significant.
The outlook for the European handling fee
The prospect is that the European handling fee will be added on top of the tariffs. The process is well under way after both the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament gave the go-ahead for its implementation by 1 November. The purpose of this fee differs from that of the tariffs. It will, in fact, be an administrative charge intended to cover the administrative and operational costs incurred in recent years by the customs authorities of EU Member States due to the huge influx of goods from non-EU countries, with China at the forefront.
In 2025, nearly 5.9 billion small parcels from outside the EU arrived
In 2025, nearly 5.9 billion small parcels arrived from countries outside the European Union. The main driving force behind this was e-commerce, which, following the rapid growth seen from 2020 onwards due to the Covid pandemic, has seen its volumes consolidate. However, this has created a number of problems. On the one hand, the absence of tariffs until 30 June this year led to a dumping effect on traditional retailers. On the other hand, customs authorities had to cope with an influx of goods, ensuring that all EU regulations were complied with.
60 per cent of the products inspected failed to meet standards
As the Customs Agency also states on the page dedicated to the three-euro tariff, ‘targeted inspections carried out across the 27 EU Member States during 2025 on cosmetics, personal protective equipment (PPE), food supplements, toys and electronic goods revealed alarming cases of non-compliance: over 60 per cent of the products inspected failed to meet EU standards due to missing labels, prohibited ingredients or a lack of safety documentation’.
The amount of the European management fee
From this perspective too, the European handling fee will serve to cover the costs of checks. The most interesting aspect lies with the European Commission, which will have to determine the amount. According to some estimates circulating in Italia, the fee could be between two and four euros. Naturally, account must be taken of the deflationary effect already caused by the tariffs, and so the cumulative impact could further contribute to reducing the flow of low-cost shipments from non-EU countries.
