The European Union has changed how customs duties are calculated and what product data must accompany goods imported from outside the EU. One change is already in effect. A second takes effect on November 1, 2026. This page explains what is changing, what is known today and what you can do to prepare.
What Is Changing
The European Union has removed a long-standing customs duty exemption and added new data requirements for goods entering the EU. Both changes apply to shipments from any country outside the EU. They apply to every carrier, not to a single one.
Customs Duty on Low-Value Shipments
Until recently, consignments valued at €150 or less were exempt from customs duty when shipped to a consumer in the EU. As of July 1, 2026, that exemption no longer applies. These consignments now attract a flat customs duty of €3 per line item. The charge applies per tariff line rather than per parcel, so a shipment containing two different products carries two charges rather than one.
This change is already in force. Business-to-business consignments sent to a recipient registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) are treated differently, with standard duty rates applying instead of the flat charge.
Product Identifiers on Customs Declarations
Beginning November 1, 2026, three product identifiers become mandatory on each customs declaration line:
Merchant Product Identifier: the identifier you use for the product in your own systems.
Manufacturer Product Identifier: the identifier the manufacturer assigns to the product.
Standardized Product Identifier: a recognized code such as a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) or European Article Number (EAN), required where one exists for the product.
Unlike the duty change, this requirement is not limited to low-value shipments. It applies to goods entering the EU regardless of value.
Note: This is a European Union regulatory change. It applies to every carrier that moves goods into the EU, including UPS, FedEx, DHL and USPS. It is not specific to any one carrier, and it is not a change any carrier has chosen to make.
Current Status of Carrier Support
Carriers have announced the November 1 requirement to their customers. They have not yet published the technical detail of how the new identifiers must be transmitted, and that detail is what determines how the requirement is met in practice.
The Question That Has Not Been Answered
One question matters more than any other, and no carrier has answered it yet. Will the product identifiers be required as part of the shipment data submitted when a label is created, or will a carrier accept the identifiers on the Commercial Invoice alone?
The two answers lead to very different solutions. Identifiers required in the shipment data have to travel through the carrier API, which means new fields, new validation and a new integration for every carrier. Identifiers accepted on the Commercial Invoice are a document change, which is a much smaller piece of work and one that Descartes Pacejet can already support.
Getting clarity on this point is critical to building the right solution, and it is the first thing we are asking each carrier.
Where the Carrier APIs Stand
As of today, no carrier has released an application programming interface (API) that accepts the new product identifier fields. Until those specifications are published, the corresponding work cannot be completed in Pacejet. We are not able to build to a specification that does not exist.
We are in regular contact with our carrier partners and expect to receive technical specifications from them. We will update this page as each carrier publishes its requirements and as the question above is answered.
Warning: Because carrier specifications are not yet available, we cannot confirm a date on which Pacejet will support the new identifier fields. If you ship to the EU, we recommend preparing for both of the scenarios described below rather than waiting.
What You Can Do Now
Some preparation does not depend on carrier specifications at all. The work described here is worth starting now, because it is likely to take longer than the system changes that follow it.
Begin Collecting Product Identifier Data
Gathering identifiers is usually the longest part of this change, and it is not blocked by anything the carriers have yet to publish. Merchant identifiers normally already exist in your item master or enterprise resource planning system. Manufacturer identifiers and standardized codes such as GTIN or EAN often do not, and collecting them can mean contacting suppliers.
The effort involved depends far more on how many distinct products you ship to the EU than on how many parcels you send. A business shipping thousands of parcels drawn from a handful of products has a small task. A business shipping a few hundred parcels drawn from thousands of products has a much larger one. It is worth establishing which of those describes you before November.
Review Which of Your Shipments Are Affected
The requirement applies to goods entering the EU from outside it. Reviewing your recent shipping history will tell you which destinations, products and carriers are involved, and whether the change affects a small part of your business or a significant one. Your Descartes Account Manager can help you with this review.
Planning for Both Outcomes
Because the carriers have not said whether identifiers belong in the shipment data or on the Commercial Invoice, no single preparation covers every outcome. Two paths are worth understanding now. Which one applies to you depends on how your carriers answer, see below.
If Identifiers Are Accepted on the Commercial Invoice
This is the simpler outcome. If a carrier accepts the product identifiers on the Commercial Invoice rather than requiring them in the shipment data, you can meet the requirement with a capability Pacejet offers today. Nothing new has to be built or released first.
Self-Service Shipping Paperwork lets you customize the documents Pacejet produces, working from a set of supplied templates. For this requirement, start from the Commercial Invoice By Product template and customize it to carry the product identifiers from your own data.
Paid Feature: Self-Service Shipping Paperwork is a licensed feature and carries a subscription fee. If it is not already part of your subscription, contact your Descartes Account Manager to add it.
If you expect this to be the outcome for the carriers you use, it is worth becoming familiar with the Commercial Invoice By Product template ahead of November, and confirming that Self-Service Shipping Paperwork is included in your subscription.
Mapping the Identifiers to Template Columns
The product table on the Commercial Invoice By Product template is built from columns you control, so the three identifiers can be carried by re-pointing existing columns rather than redesigning the document. Two of them come from standard Pacejet product data and one comes from custom data:
Merchant Product Number: your own product identifier, from the standard Product: Number field.
Non-Standardized Manufacturer Product ID: the manufacturer's identifier, held in a custom data field. In the example below it is a configured product field named Manufacturer Vendor ID.
Standardized Manufacturer Product ID: the GTIN or EAN, from the standard Product: UPC Code field.
The HS Code and Country of Origin columns already exist on the template and need no change. In the example, they draw from Product: HTS Code and Product: Origin.
Line space across the product table is limited, so adding three columns means giving up others. In the example below, several columns from the default layout were removed to make room for the identifier columns. It is worth deciding early which of your existing columns you can do without and keeping any that your own operation or a destination customs authority relies on.
The template configuration looks like this. Columns drawing on standard product data are shown in green and the custom data column in yellow.
The resulting Commercial Invoice carries all three identifiers on every line, alongside the HS code and country of origin already required today.
The name of the custom data field will depend on how your product data is configured, so your own field may differ from the example.
If Identifiers Are Required in the Shipment Data
This is the harder outcome. If a carrier requires the product identifiers as part of the shipment data submitted when a label is created, the identifiers have to pass through the carrier API, and no carrier has published that API yet.
Where that applies, carrier desktop applications offer an alternative path. UPS WorldShip and FedEx Ship Manager both allow you to create shipments and complete customs documentation directly with the carrier, independently of the carrier API. Pacejet offers integration with these carrier desktop systems, so order information can pass from Pacejet into the desktop application and you keep a single order flow while the desktop software handles the declaration.
Tip: Setting up a desktop integration takes time to configure and test. If you want this option available as a backup, it is better to prepare it well before November than to arrange it under pressure afterwards.
To discuss either of these options for your account, contact your Descartes Account Manager.
Staying Informed and Sharing Feedback
This page is the first in a series covering the EU import changes. It will be updated as carriers publish their technical specifications, as the question of where identifiers belong is answered and as Pacejet support for the new fields becomes available. Further pages covering carrier-specific detail and configuration steps will be added as that information is confirmed.
Your input shapes what we build and how we prioritize it. If these changes affect the way you ship, or if you have a requirement we should account for, submit it through the Descartes Ideas Portal. The product team reviews what arrives there, and the portal will notify you when the status of an idea you submitted or voted on changes. Describing the problem you face is more useful to us than describing a solution.
If you have questions about how these changes affect your account, contact your Descartes Account Manager or Descartes Customer Support.