The duty-free parcel is ending. Here's what it means for CPG brands selling abroad

For a decade, the easiest way for a consumer brand to “go international” was to do almost nothing: open the store to foreign shoppers and ship parcels from home. Low-value parcels crossed borders duty-free, so a $40 bottle of supplements could reach Berlin or Toronto with little more than a shipping label.

That shortcut is closing.

What changed

• United States. The US suspended its de minimis exemption for low-value imports on August 29, 2025, so parcels that used to enter duty-free now face duties and formal processing. (AP via ABC17)
• European Union. From July 1, 2026, the EU ended its €150 customs exemption for low-value parcels, replacing it with a flat €3 duty per tariff line until 2028. (FedEx)

Three euros sounds small. On a multi-item order of low-priced goods it isn’t, and the processing, paperwork and delays that come with it hurt conversion more than the duty itself.

Why it matters more for supplements, cosmetics and food

Shipping parcels across borders always sat uneasily with regulated categories. A supplement or a cosmetic sold into the EU, the UK, Canada or Brazil is generally expected to meet that market’s rules: approved ingredients and doses, local-language labels, a responsible person or importer, and in some cases a registration or notification before sale. “Personal import” parcels let some brands skip those steps. As customs scrutiny rises, that gap gets harder to rely on.

The shift: from cross-border shipping to in-country inventory

The industry is already moving. Cross-border players describe a shift from shipping everything from home to international e-commerce where more orders are fulfilled in-country. (ESW interview, Fibre2Fashion)

For a brand, in-country inventory means:

1. A compliant product for that market. Formula, claims and labels checked against local rules before the stock ships.
2. An importer of record. A local company that brings the goods in and takes regulatory responsibility.
3. Fulfillment close to the customer. Marketplace fulfillment programs or a local 3PL, so delivery is fast and returns are local.
4. Local payments and tax. Prices in local currency, local payment methods, and VAT or sales tax handled by the selling entity.

Each of these is work. Done country by country with separate consultants, importers, 3PLs and agencies, it can take a year before the first sale.

Where to start

Run the numbers before you pick a market. Model the landed cost of selling in-market: product, freight in bulk, duty, tax, fulfillment and marketing. Compare it with your current parcel economics. For many brands, bulk freight plus local fulfillment now beats parcels on both cost and delivery time, and the compliance work you do once pays off for every order after it.

That’s how Brandgentic’s brands are built: stock held in-market on infrastructure our operating group already runs, with AI agents running the growth work on top. See the platform.

This article is general information, not legal or customs advice. Rules change; check current requirements for your products and markets.