EU rules for marketplace sellers in 2026: product safety, EPR and the new parcel duties

At a glance: the dates that matter

The table lists the main dated rules in this guide, in date order. The sections below explain each one.

Parcels from outside the EU: the flat duty and the handling fee

Parcels worth less than €150 used to enter the EU free of customs duty, although VAT and customs declarations still applied¹⁶. The Council of the EU gave the change its final approval on 11 February 2026⁸, and the exemption ended on 30 June 2026⁷.

Since 1 July 2026, a flat customs duty of €3 per item applies to goods in parcels up to €150 sold by distance sale to EU consumers⁷. Goods benefiting from preferential trade agreements or Customs Union measures are excluded⁷. It applies whatever the VAT scheme: the IOSS, the special arrangements or standard VAT⁷. Items are counted by tariff classification, not by quantity: five T-shirts in one parcel count as one item (€3), while a T-shirt and a watch count as two (€6)⁷.

The flat duty is an interim measure: it runs until 1 July 2028 and may be extended⁸. Normal tariffs then apply once the EU Customs Data Hub works, which is expected in 2028⁸.

A second charge started on 1 November 2026: a Union handling fee of €2 per item¹²¹⁵. The Commission’s guidance for traders, which is explanatory and not legally binding, says it applies to distance sales whatever their value, including consignments above €150¹⁵. It has no end date, VAT is charged on it, and it cannot be refunded once the customs declaration is accepted¹⁵. From 1 July 2028 it will be lower for goods sold from a customs warehouse¹⁵.

The declarant owes both charges⁷¹⁵. For the duty, that is the IOSS holder, a user of the special arrangements or an indirect representative, and the consumer pays only in very limited cases⁷. Product identifiers in these declarations were voluntary from 1 July 2026 and have been compulsory since 1 November 2026⁷.

The legal texts include Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 for the duty and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 for the handling fee¹². Still choosing where to sell? See which marketplaces accept sellers from other countries.

The customs reform: platforms and sellers outside the EU become liable for duties

The wider customs reform, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, was adopted on 16 September 2026¹². On 21 September 2026, the Commission announced that it had entered into force, to be implemented gradually from that day¹². Online platforms become ‘importers for distance sales’, and platforms and sellers based outside the EU are responsible for customs formalities and duty payments for the goods they sell into the EU¹².

The Commission gives no start date for these responsibilities and links them to the EU Customs Data Hub¹². The Data Hub becomes compulsory for e-commerce on 1 July 2028, and an EU Customs Authority, based in Lille, is due to be set up in 2027¹².

Eunews reported on 16 September 2026 that sellers and platforms facilitating distance sales from outside the EU will be treated as importers, and must be established in the EU or represented by an EU-based entity with AEO or Trusted Economic Operator status¹⁷. It also reported that repeat offenders may be fined 1% to 6% of the total value of goods imported over the previous 12 months¹⁷.

VAT: the One Stop Shop and when the marketplace counts as the seller

The EU’s One Stop Shop (OSS) has run since 1 July 2021¹. It offers three optional schemes for declaring VAT on cross-border sales to consumers¹:

• Union scheme: for EU-established businesses, and non-EU businesses making certain supplies of goods; covers distance sales of goods between EU countries; quarterly returns¹.
• Non-Union scheme: for businesses with no establishment in the EU, for the services they supply to consumers¹.
• Import scheme (IOSS): for goods shipped from outside the EU in consignments of €150 or less, excluding excise goods; monthly returns; non-EU businesses need an EU intermediary¹.

The €10,000 threshold, below which a seller charges its home-country VAT, is only for suppliers established in a single EU country¹. It does not apply to imported distance sales either, so a seller based only in the UK or the US cannot use it¹.

Under the deemed-supplier rules, a marketplace that facilitates a sale is treated as the supplier, for VAT purposes only, in two cases¹. The first is goods imported in consignments of €150 or less and sold to consumers, which the marketplace can declare through the IOSS¹. The second is goods already in the EU, sold to consumers by a seller established outside the EU, which it can declare through the Union scheme¹.

VAT registration for stock you hold in an EU country, and fiscal representatives, are outside the scope of this guide.

Product safety: an EU responsible person and what listings must show

The General Product Safety Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/988, has applied since 13 December 2024⁵. For sellers based outside the EU, the key rule is Article 16: a product may not be placed on the EU market unless an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for it¹⁸. That operator’s tasks are set out in another law, Regulation (EU) 2019/1020¹⁸.

Under Article 19, every online offer must clearly show¹⁸:

• the manufacturer’s name, registered trade name or trademark, with its postal and electronic address¹⁸;
• where the manufacturer is not established in the EU, the name, postal and electronic address of the EU responsible person¹⁸;
• details that identify the product, including a picture, its type and any other product identifier¹⁸;
• any warning or safety information, in a language consumers easily understand, as decided by the country where the product is sold¹⁸.

Manufacturers must also give clear instructions and safety information in that language, unless the product can be used safely without them¹⁸. Marketplaces have duties too. They register on the Safety Gate Portal with a single point of contact, and design their interface so you can give the Article 19 details for each product¹⁸. They must act on an authority’s order to remove a dangerous listing within two working days¹⁸, and pass recall information on to consumers¹⁹.

France adds a language rule of its own. Its language law of 4 August 1994 is still in force in November 2026²⁰. It makes French compulsory in a product’s designation, offer, presentation, instructions for use, guarantee terms and invoices²⁰. You may add translations, but the French must be as legible as the other languages²⁰. Names of typical foreign products that are widely known are exempt²⁰.

France: EPR registration, the IDU and a French representative

In France, producers subject to extended producer responsibility (EPR) register with the authorities and receive a unique identifier, known as the IDU²¹. Each year they send, for each product category, proof that they belong to an eco-organisation or run their own system, with market and waste data²¹. An eco-organisation can send this for them, and the authorities publish the list of registered producers with their identifiers²¹.

Since 1 January 2022, French law has extended this responsibility to marketplaces²³. A marketplace that facilitates distance sales of EPR products for a third party must provide for, or contribute to, the prevention and management of the resulting waste². It is released from this when it holds evidence that the seller has already met its EPR obligations². It must record that evidence in a register available to the authorities². Holding an IDU for those products counts as that evidence².

New in 2026. Since 10 July 2026, a seller subject to EPR but not established in France must appoint an EPR representative established in France². The appointment is made by written mandate, and the representative takes over all the EPR obligations under the mandate it accepts². The duty to appoint one is treated as met for products where a platform established in France, of the kind described above, meets the EPR obligations².

In practice, for each EPR product you sell through a marketplace in France, either the marketplace holds evidence that you have met your EPR obligations, such as your IDU, or it must meet them itself². For the marketplaces, see our guide to selling on French marketplaces and the pages for La Redoute, Leroy Merlin and Kiabi.

Germany: the new packaging law, LUCID and electricals

On 12 August 2026, the EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR) and a new national law, the Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz (VerpackDG), replaced Germany’s Packaging Act (Verpackungsgesetz)¹⁰. Germany’s central packaging register agency, the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR), says the core duties for packaging that needs system participation remain: registration, system participation and data reporting¹⁰. For an online seller, that means:

• registering in the LUCID packaging register, which anyone selling packaged goods in Germany must do¹⁰;
• signing a system-participation contract with a system operator before you first place packaging on the market (shipping packaging always needs one)²²;
• reporting your packaging quantities in LUCID on time²².

New in 2026. Since 12 August 2026, a company based abroad that sells packaged products directly to end users in Germany must appoint an authorised representative for EPR¹¹. There is no exemption and you may appoint only one¹¹; before that date it was optional¹⁰. The representative takes on all your extended producer responsibility duties except one: you must register in LUCID yourself¹¹. You must appoint it before your packaging is first made available, and it counts only once the representative confirms it in LUCID¹¹. Sellers already registered must update their entries¹¹.

Marketplaces must check your registration: before a producer uses an online platform’s services, the platform must obtain and check confirmation of its LUCID registration and a self-declaration that it meets its EPR requirements²². If the proof is missing or inconsistent, the packaged products may not be offered on the platform²². Fulfilment providers must first ask you to fix missing or wrong details, and suspend their services if you do not fix them in time²². The ZSVR names marketplaces, fulfilment providers and dropshipping sellers among the businesses that must regularly check that their business partners meet their packaging-law obligations²³.

Electrical equipment has its own register: producers must register with stiftung ear before selling it in Germany²⁴. A business that sells electrical devices directly to end users in Germany without being based there counts as a producer²⁵. A distributor that offers devices from unregistered producers carries the same responsibility as a producer²⁵.

A foreign company cannot register itself: it needs an authorised representative located in Germany, which applies for the registration on its behalf and takes over its duties there²⁴²⁶. The mandate must be in writing and in German, signed by both parties and last at least three months²⁶. You may appoint only one representative for all your brands and equipment types²⁶. For the marketplaces, see our guide to selling on German marketplaces and the MediaMarkt and Redcare pages.

Spain: the platform as fallback packaging producer

Spain’s packaging decree, Real Decreto 1055/2022 of 27 December 2022, reaches producers abroad through the platforms they sell on²⁷. Take products packaged abroad and sold through an e-commerce platform. If the producer has not appointed an authorised representative under Article 17.2 of the decree, the platform acts, in a subsidiary role, as the producer²⁷. The preamble says this covers financial and reporting obligations, and organisational ones where applicable²⁷.

For packaging used in distance sales, the decree treats the trader responsible for the sale as the packer, or ‘envasador’²⁷. Its preamble says every packer must register in the packaging section of Spain’s register of product producers and send information each year²⁷. The start dates of these duties are not covered here, so confirm them before you sell in Spain. Our PcComponentes page covers one marketplace that sells to customers in Spain.

The Digital Services Act: trader checks before you go live

Every service covered by the Digital Services Act (DSA), online marketplaces included, has had to comply since 17 February 2024, although small and micro-enterprises are exempt from some rules⁴. Marketplaces must verify and display sellers’ contact details²⁸. They must also make reasonable efforts to run random checks on the products sold, or adopt new technologies for product traceability²⁸.

The regulation and its recitals describe how these checks should work²⁹:

• marketplaces should make best efforts to assess the reliability of the information traders give, using official databases such as national trade registers or VIES, or supporting documents²⁹;
• they should not offer a trader’s products until that trader’s information is complete²⁹;
• they should store the information for the length of the contract and six months after it²⁹;
• they should make reasonable efforts to check products at random against official databases of illegal products²⁹.

The detailed list of trader information is in Article 30 of the regulation²⁹. Because the marketplace may check what you give against official registers, make sure your details match your company register entry before you apply²⁹.

Consumer rights: the withdrawal button, repairs and the guarantee notice

EU consumers can withdraw from a distance purchase within 14 days without giving a reason; for goods, the period starts at delivery¹⁹. If you did not give the required information, it is extended by up to one year¹⁹. You must refund within 14 days of being told, including the original standard delivery cost¹⁹. You may wait until the goods are back or the customer shows proof of dispatch¹⁹. The customer pays the cost of returning the goods, unless you did not tell them this in advance, in which case you pay it¹⁹.

Withdrawal function, since 19 June 2026. A trader selling through an online interface must offer a function labelled ‘withdraw from contract here’ or with an unambiguous corresponding formulation⁶. It must be prominently displayed and available throughout the withdrawal period⁶. It leads to a ‘confirm withdrawal’ step and is followed by an acknowledgement on a durable medium⁶.

Longer liability after a repair, since 31 July 2026. The legal guarantee lasts at least two years, longer in some countries³⁰. Repair or replacement come first, then a price reduction or refund, and a commercial warranty does not replace the legal guarantee³⁰. Where repair is the remedy used to bring the goods into conformity, the seller’s liability period is now extended once by 12 months, for contracts concluded from 31 July 2026⁹.

Guarantee notice, since 27 September 2026. Sellers of consumer goods must show a harmonised notice of the legal guarantee of at least two years¹³¹⁴. Online, it must be in colour, for example as a general reminder on the website¹³. Producers that offer a free commercial durability guarantee of more than two years, covering the whole product, must use the GARAN label, and sellers must display it clearly¹³.

What to check before you list

Run through these points for each EU marketplace and country you sell to:

• An EU-based economic operator responsible for each product, and listings showing the manufacturer, the EU responsible person if the manufacturer is outside the EU, a picture, the product type and any other identifier, and warnings in a language set by each country¹⁸.
• French in the offer, presentation, instructions, guarantee terms and invoices for buyers in France²⁰.
• For France, the IDU for each EPR product you sell and, if you are based outside France and subject to EPR, a French EPR representative, unless a platform established in France meets the obligations².
• For Germany, your own LUCID registration, a system-participation contract and, if you are based abroad and sell directly to end users, a representative confirmed in LUCID; for electricals, stiftung ear registration, through a German representative if you are based abroad¹¹²²²⁴.
• For parcels you ship from outside the EU, how each marketplace declares the €3 duty and the €2 handling fee, and product identifiers ready for customs⁷¹⁵.
• Trader details that match your company register entry, ready for the marketplace’s DSA checks²⁹.
• Returns that work with the online withdrawal function, and terms that reflect the legal guarantee of at least two years and the extra 12 months after a repair⁶⁹³⁰.