Is Canada Post shipping to the EU again? Germany, France and the €3 duty (Nov 2026)

Yes. After the EU ended its duty-free limit for small parcels on 1 July 2026, Canada Post stopped taking parcels for Germany, France and seven other EU countries. Its service list dated 4 November 2026 shows parcel service open again to all 27 EU countries. Here is the country-by-country status, what an EU buyer now pays on a Canada Post parcel (the €3 duty and the €2 fee per item), what Canada Post needs on the customs form, and the holiday send-by dates, with an official source and date for every point.

Last verified 10 Nov 2026 · 20 facts

Quick answer

• Is Canada Post shipping to Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Portugal? Yes: they are back on Canada Post's list of available destinations (4 November 2026). They had been suspended for parcels since early July.
• Other EU countries (Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the rest) stayed open on every Canada Post list from 7 July 2026.
• What your EU buyer pays: for orders of €150 or less, VAT (at checkout on Etsy or eBay, otherwise on delivery) plus a €3 customs duty and, from 1 November 2026, a €2 handling fee per different product. Above €150, normal EU duty (0% for many Canadian-made goods under CETA) and VAT.
• Christmas: Canada Post recommends sending Tracked Packet or Small Packet to Germany, France and the Netherlands by 11 December (9 December for Europe in general), and Xpresspost International by 15 December.

Canada Post service to the EU: status by country

• Canada Post's service list dated 4 November 2026 shows parcel and letter services available again to all 27 EU countries, including Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Portugal. The only destinations it lists as suspended are Belarus, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Yemen.

  Verified Sources: Canada Post, Canada Post · Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · Effective 4 Nov 2026

• From early July 2026 Canada Post stopped accepting parcels for nine EU countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal. Its service lists of 7 July and 1 October 2026 show service to these nine as suspended (the October list says parcel service only, so letters still went).

  Verified Sources: Canada Post, Canada Post · Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · Effective 7 Jul 2026

• Canada Post's July 2026 service alert gave the EU's new customs requirements for low-value shipments (the €3 duty per item and item-level data) as the reason for the suspension, and said it would keep accepting parcels for the other 18 EU countries (including Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Sweden) where delivered-duties-unpaid (DDU) delivery remained feasible, meaning the buyer pays the import charges on delivery. That alert has since been removed from the page.

  Partly verified Sources: Canada Post · Last verified 9 Nov 2026

• On the 4 November 2026 list, Xpresspost International or International Parcel Air, International Parcel Surface, Small Packet International (air and surface) and letter post are ticked for every EU country. Tracked Packet International is not ticked for Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

  Verified Sources: Canada Post · Last verified 9 Nov 2026

From Canada Post's service lists of 7 July, 1 October and 4 November 2026 (Canada Post, Canada Post, Canada Post). "Available" means Xpresspost International or International Parcel, and Small Packet International, are ticked. Services can change at short notice, so check Canada Post's service alerts on the day you ship. Rows marked "Not listed" can still be sent by the other services.

Holiday send-by dates to Europe

• Canada Post's recommended 2026 holiday send-by dates for packages: Xpresspost International to Europe (including France, Germany and the Netherlands) by 15 December; Tracked Packet or Small Packet International to Europe by 9 December, or by 11 December for France, Germany and the Netherlands. Cards to Europe by 9 December (11 December for France, Germany and the Netherlands).

  Verified Sources: Canada Post · Last verified 9 Nov 2026

What an EU buyer pays on a Canada Post parcel

• The EU's €150 customs-duty exemption for low-value consignments was abolished on 1 July 2026 (Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382). Goods in consignments of €150 or less are now subject to customs duty.

  Verified Sources: EUR-Lex, European Commission – Taxation and Customs Union · Last verified 20 Oct 2026 · Effective 1 Jul 2026

• From 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028, a flat customs duty of €3 per item applies to consignments of €150 or less that are declared under IOSS or sent as postal consignments. Normal tariff rates are expected to apply once the EU customs data hub is ready.

  Verified Sources: EUR-Lex, Council of the EU, Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs) · Last verified 20 Oct 2026 · Effective 1 Jul 2026

• An 'item' means each different tariff sub-heading in the parcel. Example: 1 silk blouse + 2 wool blouses = 2 items = €6. Identical goods can be grouped on one declaration line. How items are counted, with examples

  Verified Sources: Council of the EU, European Commission · Last verified 20 Oct 2026

• From 1 November 2026 a Union handling fee of €2 per item (per declaration line, i.e. per distinct tariff line) applies to goods sold in distance sales (B2C e-commerce) to EU consumers from outside the EU, at any value, including over €150. It is in addition to the €3 duty, is not part of the customs value, is paid by the declarant (seller/IOSS holder, carrier or representative), has VAT charged on it, cannot be refunded (even on returns), and does not apply to private gifts. The amount is final: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2152 was published in the Official Journal (L series) on 21 October 2026. The €2 handling fee explained

  Verified Sources: Official Journal of the European Union (EUR-Lex), Dutch Customs (Douane), Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs), CLECAT (industry association, secondary) · Last verified 23 Oct 2026 · Effective 1 Nov 2026

• For consignments of €150 or less, VAT can be charged at checkout through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), at the buyer's country rate. Marketplaces handle this for sales made through them. Non-EU sellers registering for IOSS themselves generally need an EU-established intermediary. Do I need an IOSS number?

  Verified Sources: European Commission – Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission · Last verified 20 Oct 2026

• Without IOSS, import VAT is collected from the buyer on delivery. The postal operator or courier usually adds its own clearance fee.

  Verified Sources: European Commission – Taxation and Customs Union · Last verified 20 Oct 2026

• Canada Post points out that VAT remittance programs such as the EU's IOSS cover VAT only: any customs duties or handling fees may still have to be paid by the recipient on delivery.

  Verified Sources: Canada Post · Last verified 9 Nov 2026

Example: a €40.00 order (free shipping) from Canada to a buyer in Germany, sent by Canada Post on or after 1 November 2026. German VAT is 19%. The postal clearance fee that the delivering post office may add is not included because it varies.

With IOSS (Etsy, eBay, or your own IOSS number) VAT is paid at checkout. The €3 duty and the €2 fee are owed by the declarant, but if nobody prepays them they can be collected from the buyer on delivery, which is the €5.00 in the first row. Without IOSS, the buyer pays VAT on the price plus duty, the €3, the €2 and VAT on the €2. Each different product (tariff line) counts as one item. Read more: how the EU counts items for the €3 duty and the €2 handling fee.

• Etsy says that from 1 November 2026, if you buy the shipping label on Etsy, the €2 fee per unique item per package will be accounted for; if you buy labels elsewhere, ask your carrier how it collects the fee. For EU product identifiers, labels bought on Etsy send your listing ID as the merchant product ID and your listing SKU (or the listing ID if there is no SKU) as the manufacturer product ID; with labels bought elsewhere you enter them yourself (the listing ID as merchant ID and the listing SKU as manufacturer ID, adding a SKU first if the listing has none) and should not leave those fields blank.

  Verified Sources: Etsy (official Community announcement) · Last verified 28 Oct 2026 · Effective 1 Nov 2026

• Each consignment is counted separately. Orders shipped separately to the same buyer are separate consignments even if they arrive on the same day, and one order sent in two parcels is two consignments. Orders of two different consumers must always be declared separately.

  Verified Sources: European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union · Last verified 22 Oct 2026

Orders above €150 and CETA

• Above €150, IOSS cannot be used. Import VAT and customs duty (normal tariff rate) are due at import, paid by the buyer (DDU) or prepaid by the seller (DDP via a courier).

  Verified Sources: European Commission – Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union · Last verified 10 Nov 2026

• Goods of Canadian origin get 0% EU duty under CETA (the EU–Canada trade agreement, applied since 21 September 2017) for products such as silver and gold jewellery, cotton T-shirts, incense and ceramic tableware, as shown in TARIC for 1 November 2026. To claim it, the exporter writes the CETA origin declaration on the invoice or another commercial document; a Canadian exporter includes its Business Number (or leaves the field blank if it has none). No government certificate is needed. Check the rate and origin rule for your own product. Canada to France duty and CETA guide · Canada to Germany duty and VAT

  Verified Sources: European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission, Taxation and Customs Union, Government of Canada, Trade Commissioner Service · Last verified 28 Oct 2026

• If VAT is collected through IOSS, the €3 duty always applies, even to goods with preferential origin (e.g. UK goods under the TCA). Without IOSS, a preference can only be claimed on a full customs declaration (the 'H1' dataset), not on the simplified low-value ones; preferential goods are then outside the €3 regime, but the Union handling fee (from 1 November 2026) still applies. UK to Ireland customs charges

  Verified Sources: European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union · Last verified 22 Oct 2026

For Canadian-made goods above €150, put the CETA origin declaration on the invoice so the buyer pays 0% duty where TARIC shows it. Worked examples for jewellery, T-shirts, ceramics and candles: Canada → France customs duty.

What Canada Post needs on the customs form

• Canada Post says goods sent to the EU need a complete customs declaration in English or French with full sender and receiver details, a precise description of each item and its value; generic words such as "gift", "clothing" or "artwork" are treated as non-compliant. For goods sold, a valid HS code is required for each type of goods. The electronic customs data must be transmitted before the parcel is handed over: items without it are not dispatched, and commercial parcels are returned with a CAD 2.00 surcharge per tracking number.

  Verified Sources: Canada Post · Last verified 9 Nov 2026

• From 1 November 2026, product identifiers (PIDs) must be declared to EU customs for every item sold to consumers in distance sales (B2C online orders) in consignments worth up to €150. Declaring them has been voluntary since 1 July 2026; enforcement starts on 1 November. B2B shipments are in principle not concerned. Read our PID guide

  Verified Sources: European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission, DG Taxation and Customs Union · Last verified 4 Nov 2026 · Effective 1 Nov 2026

Write what the item is, what it is made of and who it is for ("women's sterling silver earrings", "men's 100% cotton T-shirt"), never just "gift" or "jewellery", and add the HS code for each type of goods. Help: find your HS code, how to fill in CN22 and CN23 and the EU product identifier checklist.

Sending a Christmas gift to family in the EU

• EU gift relief: a gift sent from a private individual outside the EU to a private individual in the EU pays no customs duty or VAT if its value is €45 or less (goods only, not postage), it is correctly declared, it is for personal or family use, the recipient has not paid for it and it is occasional, such as a birthday or anniversary present. If several items exceed €45, duty relief covers as many items as fit within €45 (an item's value cannot be split), but VAT is charged on the whole parcel. Alcohol, tobacco, perfume and toilet water are not exempt from VAT or excise. Customs gift allowances by country

  Verified Sources: Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs), European Commission – Taxation and Customs Union · Last verified 29 Oct 2026

A shop order is never a gift, even if it is wrapped and sent to someone else: it pays the €3 duty, the €2 fee and VAT like any sale. More: customs gift allowances.

Checklist for Canadian sellers shipping to the EU

1. Check Canada Post's service alerts before you promise delivery to a country, especially for orders you held back during the suspension.
2. Selling on Etsy or eBay? VAT is collected at checkout. Price in, or warn buyers about, the €3 duty and €2 fee per different product.
3. Own website without IOSS? Tell EU buyers before they pay that VAT, the €3 duty, the €2 fee and a postal fee are due on delivery, or consider IOSS.
4. Pack one order in one parcel and group identical products on one line.
5. Fill in the customs declaration in English or French, with precise descriptions, HS codes and values, and transmit it before drop-off.
6. Ship by 9 to 11 December (Tracked Packet or Small Packet) for Christmas delivery in Europe.

Worked examples for Germany, with German VAT and Deutsche Post's €7.50 fee: Canada → Germany customs duty. All EU rules for Canadian sellers: Canada → EU route guide. Selling to the US? Canada Post needs a Zonos Declaration ID: see Canada → US. Every rule change is in the change log.

This page is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Canada Post's service list can change at any time, and one point (the July alert wording) could only be checked from a search extract, so it is marked partly verified. See the disclaimer.

Rules change often: the latest change we tracked was on 10 Nov 2026 (US: the 178 China Section 301 product exclusions are extended to 9 January 2027). Alerts send one short email, with the source, only when a rule changes on a route you pick.

Estimate a Canada → EU order Get rule-change alerts