Latest news with #handlingfee
Reuters
8 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Greek retailers urge EU to bring forward fee on low-value parcels
ATHENS, June 18 (Reuters) - Greek retailers want the European Union to bring forward the introduction of a two euro ($2.30) handling fee for low-value e-commerce packages coming into the bloc, a letter, seen by Reuters, showed. The EU disclosed plans in May to remove the duty-free treatment of low-value consignments worth no more than 150 euros and impose the 2 euro fee in 2028, as the bloc faces an influx of goods sold online from Asia. In the letter to EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic, the president of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce, Stavros Kafounis requested the implementation of the proposals "no later than 2026." EU customs authorities handled some 4.6 billion low-value packages bought online in 2024, 91% of them coming from China and a doubling from 2023. About one in five euros from sales of e-commerce goods in Greece is going to Chinese platforms and is expected to rise exponentially in the next coming years, according to the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce. "The rapid growth of mega e-commerce platforms based in China has already disrupted the level playing field across the EU retail market," Kafounis said in the letter. The proposed two euro fee, which needs approval from EU governments and the European Parliament, would be incurred by the online retailer, rather than by customers. ($1 = 0.8712 euros)
Reuters
21-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
EU eyes 2 euro handling fee for online parcels in customs reform
BRUSSELS, May 21 (Reuters) - The European Commission is set to propose a 2 euro ($2.27) handling fee for packages ordered online and entering the European Union as part of reforms of its customs system to handle the billions of incoming parcels. The Commission proposed in February removing the exemption from duties on low-value consignments worth no more than 150 euros and said it would explore the possibility of an e-commerce handling fee. The proposal will need to be agreed by EU governments, which have not yet discussed it, and the European Parliament. The EU executive said the fee would cover work to ensure compliance of the huge number of parcels with EU rules, such as for toy safety, and be incurred by the online retailer, rather than by customers at the point of delivery. EU customs authorities handled some 4.6 billion low-value parcels bought online or 12 million parcels per day, 91% of which came from China, including retailers such as Shein and Temu. The number of shipments was double that of 2023. The Commission has put forward a proposed 2 euro handling fee per parcel delivered directly to the customer or a smaller 50 cent fee for parcels coming from a warehouse within the EU. "With 4.6 billion packages, you can't really have proper controls and to introduce it costs a lot of money and therefore it's fair to ask Alibaba, Temu or Shein to pay their fair share of the cost," Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's trade committee told reporters on Wednesday. ($1 = 0.8826 euros)
