Since 1 July 2026, the European Union has applied a temporary fixed customs duty of €3 per item supplied as a distance sale of imported goods in a consignment with an intrinsic value not exceeding €150. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 provides for the measure to apply until 1 July 2028.
For a Belgian or French company selling, importing or facilitating online sales from third countries, this is not merely a customs topic. It affects landed cost, VAT, margin, displayed prices and reconciliation between orders, carrier declarations and vendor bills. Odoo can structure the relevant data, but no universal configuration replaces an assessment of the company's exact role in the flow.
What changed — and what “€3” does not mean
The fixed duty applies per item covered by the measure, not automatically per order or parcel. An order containing several items can therefore generate more than €3 in duty. Scope also depends on the sale, origin, consignment value and import arrangement.
The Commission published specific guidance on the duty's VAT treatment. Finance and customs teams must translate it into the company's actual setup, particularly when IOSS, a marketplace, carrier or representative is involved. The fixed amount should not be configured as a generic sales tax on every order.
Four decisions to make in Odoo
1. Identify the liable party and the cost event
Before automating anything, document who declares, who pays and who receives the supporting document. Treatment differs when the company imports its own stock, ships directly from a supplier, operates a marketplace or recharges a cost paid by the carrier.
2. Preserve the calculation data
The order and import record should make it possible to retrieve the number of affected items, intrinsic consignment value, dispatch country, channel and customs reference. A single accounting line disconnected from those elements makes audits and disputes difficult.
3. Choose the correct cost treatment
Where the duty belongs in the acquisition cost of imported stock, Odoo logistics costs and inventory valuation must remain consistent with the chosen accounting method. Depending on the flow, an expense, landed cost, recharge or combination may be appropriate. Finance and tax advisers should validate that decision; it cannot be inferred from the €3 amount alone.
4. Reconcile order, customs and accounting
The useful control compares three populations: expected items in Odoo, amounts declared or invoiced by the intermediary and accounting entries. Differences should be explained by cancellations, consolidated consignments, returns, corrections and out-of-scope items.
Underside analysis: do not hard-code a customs rule into the catalogue
We recommend separating commercial logic from customs treatment. One Odoo product can be sold through several channels and follow several logistics routes; adding a fixed amount directly to its master data or every order will quickly create false positives. The rule should use flow attributes: origin, destination, value, type of sale, channel and the company's role.
Start with a real sample of declarations since July 2026. Classify discrepancies, measure the margin effect and verify VAT treatment. Standard configuration may be enough to record and allocate some costs; integration with a carrier, declarant or marketplace becomes relevant when volume requires item-level reconciliation.
Control plan for eCommerce, finance and IT teams
- Map every import route into Belgium and France.
- Qualify the role of the company, marketplace, carrier and customs representative.
- Define the source of truth for value, item count and consignment reference.
- Validate the VAT and accounting scheme with the responsible specialists.
- Test multi-item orders, returns, cancellations and consolidated consignments.
- Compare expected and actual margin after duties and transport charges.
- Archive evidence and retain a link to the Odoo order and journal entry.
- Plan for the temporary scheme's end on 1 July 2028 in rule governance.
This work complements an Odoo eCommerce integration architecture and should be coordinated across accounting, logistics and tax teams.
Official sources
- EUR-Lex — Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382.
- European Commission — VAT guidance on the €3 customs duty.
- European Commission — EU customs reform and measure timeline.
- Odoo 19 documentation — landed costs.
Underside helps companies scope Odoo eCommerce, customs, inventory and accounting flows. The objective is to turn an external obligation into controlled, documented and testable rules.