Dutch drop handling fee for non-EU parcels worth less than €150

The Dutch caretaker government will not bring in an extra charge on parcels from outside the EU, now that Belgium and France have also abandoned their plans, broadcaster NOS reported on Wednesday.

The Netherlands had planned to use income from the supplement – estimated at €2 billion a year – to fund extra customs checks. The payment would have added around €6 on average to the cost of a parcel from outside the EU.

Brussels has now also brought forward its own plans to introduce an extra charge of €3 per parcel from 2028, to 1 July 2026 and the Council of State said at the end of last year the Dutch should now wait.

The EU supplement will apply to packages with a value of up to €150, which are currently exempt from customs charges. Every day, around one million such packages arrive in the Netherlands, of which 80% to 90% come from Chinese mail order firms such as AliExpress, Temu and Shein.

EU research suggests that up to 65% of small parcels entering the EU are undervalued and avoid duties.