The package from Temu is already on the way: will the June order save you from the new duty of €3

Thousands of buyers in Greece managed to place orders on Temu, Shein, AliExpress, eBay and other foreign sites back in June. Many hopedthat since the money was paid before July 1, their new duty will not affect.

But this is where an unpleasant surprise arises: For customs, it is not the date of the order or even the date of debiting the money from the card that is decisive. The moment is important when the goods are processed for release into free circulation in EU.

In other words: if the parcel was ordered on June 25, but its customs declaration was accepted after July 1, it may be subject to a new fixed fee of 3 euros.

What exactly has changed since July 1

From July 1, 2026, the EU has abolished the previous customs duty exemption for low-cost parcels worth up to 150 euros coming from countries outside the European Union.

Instead, a temporary fixed fee has been introduced: 3 euros per item in the customs declaration. It applies to remote purchases from sellers from China, the USA, the UK, Turkey and other countries outside the EU.

This applies not only to Temu, Shein and AliExpress. Goods from Amazon, eBay and other sites may fall under the new rules if a particular package is sent directly from a third country, and not from a warehouse within the European Union.

The main question is: what date is considered?

The buyer’s logic is simple: the goods were purchased before the new rules came into force, which means they must pay according to the old rules. But in customs law there is a different logic at work, less human and more similar to printer instructions written by lawyers.

The duty arises when the product is imported, and not when it is purchased on the website. For customs, the date of submission and acceptance of the import declaration, according to which the goods are released for free circulation, is important.

Greek ΑΑΔΕ In its instructions, it states that the fee applies to H1 and H7 declarations, which are submitted for imported goods worth up to 150 euros as part of distance selling.

Therefore, the following situations are possible:

• The order is placed and the parcel is cleared through customs before July 1st. The new fee does not apply since the old fee exemption was still in effect at the time of registration.
• The order was placed in June, but the declaration was submitted after July 1. The parcel will most likely be subject to the new fee of €3 per item.
• The order was placed before July 1, the goods had already arrived in Greece, but were in the warehouse or awaiting clearance. In this case, the decisive factor remains the date of the customs declaration, and not the date of arrival of the aircraft, the date of payment or the date the status “arrived in the country of destination” appears.

Why is this causing outrage?

The problem is not that the rule cannot be explained legally. The problem is that it is almost impossible for the consumer to know in advance exactly when his parcel will be cleared by customs.

A person could order a product in mid-June, expecting to receive it according to the previous rules. But shipping from China often takes two, three or even four weeks. As a result, the buyer did everything before the introduction of new standards, and will pay after them.

Formally this is not considered retroactive effect of the law: Duty is not charged on purchases made in June, but on imports of goods that occur in July. However, for an ordinary person, the difference looks rather relative: the money is written off, the order is sent, and new expenses appear even when nothing can be cancelled.

€3 per parcel or per item?

There is also an important detail here. The new fee does not necessarily apply to the entire box or to each physical item.

The fee is charged for a separate commodity item in the customs declaration. This means that five identical T-shirts can be entered as one category and subject to the same fee of 3 euros.

But if one package contains a T-shirt, a watch and a charger, customs may consider these to be three items. Then the amount will be 9 euros.

This is why cheap mixed orders can be the most unprofitable. A purchase of 7–10 euros easily turns into a parcel where the duty is a comparable or even larger amount.

Who does the new regime concern?

The duty applies to goods worth up to 150 euros sold remotely and sent to the EU from third countries. VAT is not canceled or replaced by a new fee.

If the site uses the IOSS system, VAT is often already included in the price of the product upon payment. But a fee of 3 euros can still be charged separately.

If the goods are already in a warehouse in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Spain or another EU country, there will usually be no new customs duty. It was already imported into the European Union earlier and is further moving within the single market.

Therefore, when purchasing, it is more important to look not at the name of the platform, but at the line “dispatch from”. The same product on Amazon or AliExpress can come either from a warehouse in the EU or directly from China.

Who formally pays the fee?

The European Commission emphasizes that the obligation to pay lies primarily with the declarant: platform, seller, carrier or customs representative. The consumer should pay directly only in exceptional cases.

But this does not mean that the buyer will not lose anything. In reality, platforms, sellers and courier companies will most likely include costs in the price of the product, delivery or a separate payment when the package is issued.

That is, formally this is not a “buyer tax”, but practically the buyer will still see it in the invoice. Economics can perform such tricks without any magic.

What should those who have already ordered the goods do?

Those whose parcels were ordered before July 1, but have not yet cleared customs, can only monitor the delivery status and messages from the platform or carrier.

If the marketplace has not included the new fee in the price in advance, it may appear upon delivery or in a notification from the courier service. At the same time, it will be difficult to argue only with reference to the date of the order: customs rules tie the occurrence of the obligation to the clearance of import.

Main conclusion: The order date itself does not protect against the new duty. If the goods were released by customs before July 1, the old regime remains in effect. If the declaration is accepted after this date, the parcel will most likely be subject to a new fee.

Sources: ΑΑΔΕ, European Commission, EU Council Regulation 2026/382.

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