The measure is part of wide-scale reforms to the EU's customs rules, including an EU-wide handling fee on products bought outside the 27-nation bloc, as Brussels steps up its efforts to stem the flow of cheap Chinese parcels.

The EU says an estimated 5.9 billion low-value retail packages entered the EU in 2025, more than 90 percent originating from China. Some 4.6 billion cheap parcels entered the bloc in 2024.

A three-euro levy was proposed for parcels worth less than 150 euros ($173), but the European Commission will decide the precise amount.

EU negotiators agreed during talks Thursday that companies repeatedly allowing the import of dangerous items could face a fine of up to six percent of the total value of goods imported into the EU in the previous 12 months.

The bloc can also suspend an e-commerce platform as a last resort, the parliament said in a statement, as part of the reforms that will apply from 2028.

"The goal: an internal market that no longer leaves platforms such as Temu, Shein and AliExpress untouched while putting massive amounts of non-compliant goods on the European market and unfairly competing with our businesses," lead negotiator for the parliament Dirk Gotink said.

The agreement comes a day after the French city of Lille was chosen to host the new customs authority that will centralise EU efforts to tackle the issues.

European consumer rights umbrella group BEUC hailed the reforms agreed.

"Europe has been swamped by a tsunami of packages from China, and customs authorities could simply not cope," BEUC director general Agustin Reyna said.

He pointed to consumer groups' tests of goods bought online which found toys that could "fatally injure" children and textiles "laced with banned chemicals".

Reyna added: "This reform begins to turn the tide and makes it harder for dangerous products to enter the EU."

raz/sbk

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