Currently only higher value packages are subject to customs.
The new charge, similar to changes already happening in the US, will come into force from March 2029.
Goods sent from Ireland to England, Scotland and Wales will be subject to the customs charges after the British government scrapped a duty-free exemption for low-value import goods under £135 (€150).
That will not apply to goods sent to Northern Ireland because the Windsor Framework ensures there are no customs processes for goods moving into the North from the EU, including Ireland. However, any parcel shipped to the rest of the UK will be subject to custom charges, to be paid by either the sender or the person waiting to receive a package.
The only exemption is for individuals sending gifts or parcels to another individual – friends and family – in the UK, if the parcel is valued at £39 (€45) or less.
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Charges will soon also apply the other way, as the EU is moving to hit lower-value parcels entering the single market, including from the UK, next year.
The UK and EU changes are aimed at stopping the flood of items being bought by consumers from Chinese online platforms such as Shein, Ali Express and Temu, but they will also impact more local cross-border activity.
These platforms send packages directly from factories in China to shoppers’ doorsteps, where traditionally imports were in bulk to local distributors and were therefore captured by the customs system.
“I will stop overseas online firms from undercutting our high street by applying customs duty on parcels of any value,” UK chancellor Rachel Reeves told parliament in her budget speech on Wednesday.
Ireland’s Department of Finance said the EU’s plan to scrap a “de minimis” exemption from customs duties for low-value packages entering the single market will not impact goods shipped from Northern Ireland.
“The removal of the customs de minimis threshold of €150 is part of a larger package of EU customs reforms proposals. Details of this and other reforms are still being discussed at EU level,” it said. “Any impacts regarding the importing/exporting of goods through Northern Ireland will be considered in the context of the Windsor Agreement and other related protocols established post-Brexit. It is too early to say what these impacts might be.”
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