A regulatory change takes effect on 1 July 2026 that impacts gifts shipped into the EU from outside the EU. This article explains what’s changing, what it means for recipients, and how &Open handles it.
What’s changing on 1 July 2026?
The EU is removing its long-standing €150 duty-free threshold for imported goods. From 1 July 2026, any gift shipped into the EU from a non‑EU warehouse becomes dutiable.
This means that gifts shipped to EU recipients from &Open’s UK, US, or Australia warehouses may now incur additional customs charges. Shipments from our Northern Ireland warehouse to EU recipients are exempt from this change.
What does this mean for your gift shipments?
For gifts shipped into the EU from outside the EU:
A flat €3 customs duty per product type applies for gifts valued ≤ €150.
Example: a gift box with 3 different items would incur €9 total duty (3 × €3), not €3.
From 1 Nov 2026, an additional EU handling fee (estimated at ~€2 per parcel, still to be confirmed) may be added on top. This is pending confirmation.
What’s not affected
Gifts shipped to EU recipients from our Irish warehouse are unaffected:
no customs duty related to this change
no additional steps
no added delay
Because we fulfill from local, in-region inventory by default, we can often keep EU gifting EU-domestic, avoiding duties, extra fees, and border delays entirely.
In particular, our Northern Ireland warehouse is a standout advantage:
NI shipments into the EU are exempt under the Windsor Framework.
Combined with our Dublin and Netherlands warehouses, this creates more duty-free routes into the EU than many US-only (and even GB-only) providers can offer.
What action is needed?
We’re already on it. EU-bound gifting is predominantly fulfilled from our EU and Northern Ireland warehouses, and will sidestep duties and delays entirely. Where gifts are shipped into the EU, the platform calculates and applies duties automatically, so recipients aren’t hit with surprise charges at the door. No action is needed from you today, and we’ll proactively flag if anything changes.
Questions?
If you have questions about a specific shipment route, timing, or expected costs, reach out to your &Open point of contact and we’ll help.