From November 1, two changes will affect customs clearance for parcels arriving from outside the EU, in every member state. Online orders will incur a €2 customs-handling fee. For small parcels, the fee applies to each item line and is added to the existing €3 flat customs duty.
The National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary (NAV) says consumers do not need to arrange payment themselves. Postal services, courier companies or a platform’s representative will continue to handle customs clearance and pay the applicable duties and fees. The source does not say whether sellers or platforms will pass the new charge on through prices or shipping costs.
The €2 fee is independent of a parcel’s value, so it also applies to shipments worth more than €150. The €3 flat duty introduced in July applies to small parcels worth less than €150.
From November 1, customs declarations will also need to include the seller’s and manufacturer’s product identifiers for goods in the parcel. The NAV says these details will help customs authorities identify imported products more precisely and more effectively filter out goods that fail to meet EU rules or could endanger consumers.
According to information provided to MTI, the number of small parcels arriving from outside the EU has fallen since the flat duty was introduced in July, but the volume remains significant. From July to September, the NAV processed about 22 million shipments, averaging 245,000 parcels a day. Since a single parcel can contain several different products, the authority handled nearly 58 million item lines over those three months..
