Before the summer, around 15 million small packages streamed into the EU every day. To curb volumes from countries outside the union, a first step was taken on July 1st of this year, with a temporary customs duty of 3 euros per product category introduced for shipments under 150 euros.
The second step comes into force on Sunday, November 1st. A new handling fee of 2 euros per package will then be introduced throughout the EU on top of the existing customs duty, which means a noticeable price increase for small orders from low-price platforms such as Temu and Shein.
The tightening comes after the new customs duties hit the low-price giants during the autumn and dampened foreign trade from China.
69 percent of goods failed tests
The new fee is welcomed by Sweden's Consumers and the European consumer organization BEUC. In independent product tests within BEUC, 69 percent of the reviewed products from Temu and Shein have proven to be potentially dangerous or illegal.
It’s good. Dangerous products are flooding in and customs needs resources to be able to protect consumers, says Maria Hammarling, expert at Sweden's Consumers.
Customs has a huge task when it comes to detecting and stopping suspiciously dangerous products ordered from sites outside the EU. Supervision simply needs better conditions to do its job.
Raises alarm about hidden fees
At the same time, Sweden's Consumers issues a sharp warning about how the new surcharges are charged. There is growing concern that the cost is required at package delivery or via a separate invoice, despite the fact that EU law in section 4.2.8 requires full price disclosure at the time of purchase.
As a consumer, you should be confident that the price shown at the checkout is also the final price. No extra fees should be added afterwards that you have not been informed about, says Maria Hammarling.