Estonia imposes customs duty on small parcels from third countries from July 1st

From July 1st, 2025, Estonia will introduce a fixed customs duty for all small parcels valued up to 150 ordered directly from third countries. The 3 duty set by the European Commission applies to each item declared on the customs declaration. A customs clearance fee will be added by November 1st at the latest.

Estonian Tax and Customs Board announced that from July 1st, 2025, a new customs duty rule will apply to all small parcels with a value not exceeding 150 ordered directly from third countries. The change primarily affects consumers who shop from Chinese, US and other online stores located outside the European Union.

The European Commission has set a fixed 3 customs duty per item listed on the customs declaration. This means that if a parcel contains multiple different products, the duty applies to each one separately. The previously existing exemption that exempted goods valued below 150 from customs duty will thus cease to apply.

In addition to customs duty, an additional customs clearance fee is expected to be introduced by November 1st, 2025 at the latest. The Tax and Customs Board stresses that consumers should take these additional costs into account when making purchasing decisions, as the final price may be higher than expected.

The purpose of the change is to level the playing field between EU retailers and companies selling from outside the EU. In recent years, platforms such as Temu and Shein have grown rapidly partly because their goods imports were largely duty-free.