Eurasian Union sets dedicated customs regime for e-commerce

The EAEU brings together Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan under a common external tariff. The new chapter of the Customs Code adds an official register of e-commerce operators, setting out their rights, obligations and liabilities, and requires that any purchase made by an individual from a foreign marketplace, including Chinese ones, be declared, regardless of amount.

The duty-free threshold per shipment remains set at 200 euros. Below that, a parcel remains exempt from duty. Above it, according to several consistent sources, the new mechanism applies a duty of 5% of the total value (with a minimum of around 1 euro per kilogram), plus the destination country's VAT, whereas the previous regime applied a flat rate of 15% only on the portion exceeding the threshold.

Kazakhstan has also raised its VAT from 12% to 16% from 1 January 2026 under a new general tax code, with no direct link to the e-commerce customs reform, which mechanically increases the total burden on parcels exceeding 200 euros once the new customs regime is applied. In Armenia, the standard VAT rate remains at 20%.

Effective implementation on 1 July 2026 assumes that all five member states have transposed the new chapter into national law; several logistics industry analysts note that a delay remains possible if one member state falls behind schedule. Those primarily affected are Kazakhstani and Armenian individuals who buy directly on Chinese marketplaces such as Alibaba, 1688, Temu or Pinduoduo, as well as local sellers and resellers who source through this channel rather than through conventional commercial imports.