Taxes: France Proposes to Charge “Management Fees” on Each Small Package Entering Europe

France is proposing to introduce “management fees” on small parcels entering Europe from 2026, in order to finance reinforced controls, with an amount of “a few euros” per parcel according to Minister Amélie de Montchalin

France proposes to charge “management fees” on each small package entering Europe, from 2026, to finance the controls expected to be strengthened. A response to the influx of low-value packages from China. It’s about making “pay to importers, to platforms, and not to consumers, a small lump sum on packages”, declared the Minister of Public Accounts Amélie de Montchalin. She mentions “a few euros” per package.

This tax would be applied from 2026, until 2028, when the European Union could remove the customs tax exemption on packages worth less than 150 euros, arriving from countries outside the European Union.

Investigations opened against Shein and Temu

Singapore-based e-commerce platform Shein is under investigation by the European Commission on suspicion of failing to adequately combat the sale of products that do not meet European standards. The institution has also been investigating the site of Chinese origin Temu since October for similar reasons.

Some 4.6 billion shipments worth less than 150 euros entered the European market in 2024, or more than 145 every second. Of this total, 91% came from China. For France alone, 800 million packages worth less than 150 euros were delivered last year (out of a total of 1.5 billion packages).