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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The new European Union rules on taxing small parcels did not lead to the expected drop in shipment volumes from Ukraine. Even though Ukrainians now have to pay 3 euros extra for the shipment.
What changed for parcels to the EU
Since 1 July 2026 of this year, the European Union has abolished the exemption from duty for parcels valued up to 150 euros. Ukrposhta's CEO Ihor Smilyanskyi told Interfax-Ukraine whether this affected Ukrainian parcels.
It is known that for distance selling under the B2C scheme that falls under the new rules, a temporary fixed duty of 3 euros per item listed in the customs declaration now applies.
It was expected that additional costs could affect the volume of international parcels. However, the Ukrainian post office has not yet observed such an effect: after the new regime was introduced, the volumes of shipments from Ukraine to EU countries did not decrease.
In some European directions, the postal operator, on the contrary, is seeing an increase in the number of shipments.
According to Smilyanskyi, the company prepared in advance for the new rules and integrated with European countries. Thanks to this, the necessary charges can be automatically calculated at the parcel processing stage.
That is, the sender does not need to navigate the new customs rules of each country on their own – the system accounts for the necessary payments during processing.
The duty of 3 euros will not apply forever.
The EU mechanism being introduced is temporary. It is to operate until 1 July 2028 this year. By that moment, the European Union plans to launch the EU Customs Data Center. After its launch, permanent tariff rates for such shipments are expected to come into effect.
For now, the new system is only starting to operate, and Ukrainian statistics from Ukrposhta indicate that the introduction of the additional duty by itself did not force shippers to massively abandon parcels to Europe. And in some directions, demand for international shipments even continues to grow.
Why Europe is opposing cheap parcels
The new rules primarily concern goods from popular Chinese marketplaces, notably Temu and Shein, which in recent years have rapidly increased sales in Europe.
It is known that the number of cheap parcels arriving into the bloc has risen more than fourfold — from 1,3 billion in 2022 year to 5,9 billion in 2025 year. About 90% of parcels come from China, and competition from online platforms, including Shein and Temu, is hitting European retailers hard.
Another reason for tightening rules was the results of inspections of imported products. The European Union studies showed that 60% of goods purchased online outside the bloc do not meet European safety requirements.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Мито на дешеві посилки вже діє: Укрпошта розповіла, як на це відреагували українці". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
