Three months after the import duty exemption ended, Dutch Customs is still seeing fewer e-commerce declarations and more regular shipments. The shift may indicate that companies are importing goods in larger, consolidated consignments.
In August and September 2026, declaration lines for e-commerce goods fell by about 70% compared with the same period in 2025. Over the same period, declaration lines filed through the regular DMS system increased by 43%.
On 1 July, the European Commission ended the import duty exemption for e-commerce shipments worth up to and including €150. Companies now pay €3 in duties for each product type in a shipment. This makes it more economical to import a large shipment containing one product type than many small shipments with different products.
