EU customs: a product ID becomes mandatory on every B2C parcel from 1 November

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EU customs: a product ID becomes mandatory on every B2C parcel from 1 November

From 1 November 2026, every item in a B2C distance sale entering the EU must carry a product identifier on the customs declaration, according to the European Commission's Access2Markets guidance. A generic product description will no longer be enough.

The requirement amends the Union Customs Code Delegated Act (EU) 2015/2446 and follows the 1 July 2026 end of the €150 duty exemption, replaced by a temporary €3 duty per item under Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382. Identifiers were voluntary from 1 July; from November they are mandatory on H1, H6 and H7 declarations, whether the seller uses IOSS, special arrangements or standard import VAT. Sellers must declare a merchant product identifier (M-PID) and a non-standardised manufacturer identifier (NS-PID) in all cases, plus a standardised one (EAN, ISBN) where it exists.

The first customs wave already moved numbers. Germany's e-commerce association bevh estimates shoppers spent €566 million on Temu, Shein and AliExpress in Q3 2026, 35.5% less than a year earlier, with their combined share of German online goods falling to 3.1% from 5.3% in Q2.

Two caveats. bevh links the drop to higher import costs and weaker consumer confidence but does not isolate the tariff's share; and the three platforms' retreat was not a windfall for locals — German online marketplaces overall grew 5% year on year, while online-only shops fell 0.8%. The Commission has also set a €2 Union handling fee per item, due to start collecting from 1 November 2026 — so treat every figure in this story as per-item, not per-parcel.

What to do this week: export every product you ship to the EU with three identifiers — your own SKU (M-PID), the manufacturer's model or part number (NS-PID — assign one if the manufacturer doesn't provide it), and a GTIN or EAN where the product has one (S-PID). Send that list to the customs broker or carrier that files your import declarations and ask them to confirm which identifier belongs on which declaration type; carriers such as FedEx will require these fields in their shipping tools from 26 October. For the official rules, start with the European Commission's Access2Markets guidance on product identifiers and then check with the customs authority of the EU country where your goods are cleared — they publish national procedures on top of the EU rules. If you still need a GTIN, your local GS1 member organization issues them. Finally, re-check your landed cost per item, not per parcel: the €3 duty and the €2 Union handling fee arriving on 1 November both apply per item.

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Sources

• European Commission, Access2Markets — "EU applies €3 customs duty per item on low-value e-commerce consignments" (Product Identifiers mandatory from 1 November 2026; €2 Union handling fee due from the same date): https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/news/eu-applies-eu3-customs-duty-item-low-value-e-commerce-consignments
• bevh (German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association), Q3 2026 online-goods data, reported 13 October 2026: https://www.marketmaze.me/p/shein-temu-aliexpress-germany-sales-q3-2026
• Corroboration of the bevh figures (published 11 October 2026): https://www.ecomcrew.com/temu-shein-and-aliexpress-sales-fell-35-5-in-germany