If you ship to EU buyers, from 1 November each item needs product identifiers on the customs data. UPS starts checking earlier, from 25 October, and may reject shipments without them.
What to do now
- Check whether your carrier or label tool asks for product IDs.
- Add your own SKU as the merchant ID, and the maker's code where one exists.
- If you think your goods are exempt, confirm the commodity code in EU TARIC first. EU TARIC
Detail
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1022 was published in the Official Journal on 1 July 2026. Article 2(3) applies Annex point (2)(a) from 1 November 2026. Each item in a distance sale of imported goods then needs a merchant product identifier, a non-standardised manufacturer product identifier, and a standardised manufacturer product identifier where one exists. Operators could provide them voluntarily from 1 July 2026. The Commission guidance says enforcement starts on 1 November 2026.
The guidance limits this to consignments with an intrinsic value up to €150, mainly sales to a consumer in the EU, and says the Commission is amending Annex B to state that limit. The annex sentence itself has no value cap. It applies to sellers outside the EU, including the UK, Canada, and Australia.
An administrative tolerance applies only where the goods are classified under specific commodity codes listed in the guidance. Calling the goods handmade does not by itself qualify. Classify them in EU TARIC. This note states no commodity code.
CONFLICT UPS says tolerance goods need no product-identifier values and should use a Commodity Category Exemption Indicator. The guidance says those goods comply when the values M-PID and NS-PID are entered in C127 and C128. Follow the carrier's label flow and the Commission text. UPS will require merchant and manufacturer identifiers for non-exempt products from 25 October 2026, and a shipment may fail UPS validation if they are missing. That is a UPS system date. The legal date is 1 November 2026.
C127 and C128 are the boxes in the customs data where the merchant ID and the manufacturer ID go. Tolerance goods enter M-PID and NS-PID there only for the commodity codes listed in the Commission guidance.
Sources
- Legal basis: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1022Government
- Guidance: Commission guidance PDF (version of 5 October 2026)Government
- Carrier notice: UPS: EU de minimisCarrier
Last checked: 2026-10-19
Information only, not customs or legal advice.