European supply chain update — October 2026

Three things changed for European ecommerce supply chains this year, and one lands in the first week of November. None are dramatic enough to make headlines. All change what an order costs to deliver — and brands that have not looked at them will find out during the busiest trading weeks of the year.

What changed in EU customs this year

On 1 July 2026 the EU removed the €150 customs duty exemption for low-value imports. Goods at €150 or less previously entered free of customs duty, with import VAT applying from the first euro. Qualifying B2C shipmen

Two details in that change matter more than the headline figure:

• It is charged per customs declaration line, not per parcel — generally each unique HS code and, where applicable, country of origin. A parcel containing three product types carries three charges.
• It applies to goods entering the EU. Orders shipped from stock already inside the EU customs union are domestic movements between member states and are not affected.

Low-value B2B imports remain on standard duty rates. The temporary flat duty is scheduled to run until 1 July 2028, when normal customs tariffs are planned to replace it.

What happened to parcel costs

Fuel surcharges moved sharply through the second half of the year. DHL eCommerce Netherlands published a fuel surcharge of 23.50% in August 2026, 28.00% in September and 30.25% in October — a rise of 6.75 percentage points in three months.

That percentage sits on top of the transport rate, so it reaches every parcel regardless of what you negotiated. The index is linked to the Dutch consumer diesel price published by CBS and applied the month after publication — so the pump gives roughly a month of warning before the invoice does.

Worth remembering in both directions: the lag applies to falls as well as rises. Brands tend to notice the increases and miss the decreases.

What lands on 1 November

Product identifier requirements become mandatory for B2C shipments from outside the EU. From that date, customs data must include a merchant identifier and a non-standardised manufacturer identifier — an SKU, for example — for each product type in the shipment.

A separate EU customs handling fee has also been described as possible from the same date. Treat that as expected rather than confirmed until it appears.

The practical consequence is a catalogue problem rather than a logistics one. Generic descriptions such as “parts” or “accessories” will not satisfy the requirement, and incomplete customs data is the most common cause of a held parcel. Anyone importing into the EU should check their product data this week, not in December.

What peak season looks like from here

The two changes above arrive immediately before the heaviest trading period of the year.

• 11 November — Singles’ Day. The practical start of the European peak, driving inbound freight volume and customs processing load whether or not you run a promotion.
• 27 November — Black Friday, with Cyber Monday on 30 November.
• December and January — the returns wave, which competes for the same warehouse capacity as outbound dispatch.

The sequencing is the problem. New customs data requirements take effect on 1 November, ten days before volume starts building. There is no quiet period in which to fix a catalogue.

What this means if you ship into the EU from outside it

Brands dispatching from the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, the United States or Asia now carry all three changes at once: the duty per declaration line, the product identifier requirement from November, and the fuel surcharge on top of the transport rate.

Brands dispatching from stock already inside the EU carry only the third. The customs changes do not apply to a domestic movement between member states.

That gap is the main structural story in European ecommerce logistics this year — not a single dramatic event, but a customs reform, a data requirement and a cost index all moving the same way within six months.

Efulfilment Europe dispatches from Almere in the Netherlands with access to 75+ carrier options. Stock held there sits inside the EU customs union, so orders to EU member states move as domestic shipments rather than imports.

What to do this month

• Audit your product data before 1 November. Merchant identifier, manufacturer identifier or SKU, accurate descriptions and correct HS codes for every product type you ship into the EU.
• Re-model the duty per declaration line, not per parcel. If you have budgeted €3 per order, multi-item orders are understated.
• Check your current fuel surcharge against the published index rather than against what you assumed when rates were set.
• Confirm your dispatch cut-off holds through peak week, including Fridays.
• Decide where your EU stock sits. This is the only decision on the list that removes two of the three changes rather than managing them.