EU puts a fee on ultra-cheap imports – with consequences for material flows

On 12 December, EU member states agreed to introduce a flat €3 fee per small parcel imported from outside the EU, primarily affecting low-cost platforms such as Shein and Temu. While formally a trade measure, the decision has direct implications for material flows, waste volumes and the functioning of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems.

The fee will apply to consignments valued below €150 – a category that now accounts for billions of parcels annually, mostly originating from China. The EU argues that the sheer volume has overwhelmed customs authorities, undermined product safety enforcement and distorted competition, while simultaneously driving large flows of short-lived products into European waste systems.

From a circularity and EPR perspective, the decision is significant. By raising the cost of ultra-low-value imports, the EU is addressing the inflow of products that typically have low durability, poor traceability and weak or absent producer responsibility. In practice, the fee functions as an indirect tool for steering material flows – where trade policy begins to operate as waste policy.

The move also highlights a structural tension: without control over inflows, EPR systems are left to manage the consequences of excessive volumes, rather than addressing the upstream drivers that generate them.

Fees on ultra-cheap imports - Why this matters now: This is the first time the EU has agreed on a general per-parcel fee in response to e-commerce volume pressures, signalling a shift from circularity rhetoric toward material-flow governance grounded in trade and enforcement realities.