From July 1, the European Union will begin applying a new fixed customs fee of 3 euros on low-value e-commerce shipments imported from third countries. The measure will apply to goods worth less than 150 euros and is expected to remain in force until July 2028. The topic was commented on in the program “Your Day“ on NOVA NEWS by Vyara Genova-Rudolf, Head of the “Public Relations“ Department at the “Customs“ Agency. According to her, the most affected by the new regime will be shipments from large online platforms based in China.
„De facto they will be the most affected by this regulation, as 90% of shipments entering the European Union are practically from this type of platform and come from China“, said Genova-Rudolf.
She pointed out that the scale of online trade is already extremely large. Last year alone, over 5.8 billion such shipments entered the EU. According to her, it is this huge volume that is the reason why the European institutions are changing the regime.
„These are an extremely large volume of goods that have practically used the consumer relief and passed through a parallel line of commercial imports“, she explained.
The new fee will be collected through the platforms themselves. Genova-Rudolf specified that the European legislator has designated the platform as the responsible party, since it already collects VAT when ordering. "When the consumer orders, he also pays VAT, and now the customs duty should be added to it," said the representative of the "Customs" Agency.
According to her, the consumer should see the final price at the time of purchase. However, it is still not clear whether the platforms will display the fee separately or include it in the price of individual products. "The consumer should see the final price, in which all taxes are calculated," Genova-Rudolf pointed out. She emphasized that the goal is not to make online shopping more difficult, but to introduce fairer conditions.
According to her, the new measure has both a fiscal and competitive effect. On the one hand, customs duties are the European Union's own resource, which is redistributed through various programs. On the other hand, the current regime places traders who import goods in the standard order in a less favorable position.
“If you are a trader who buys goods from China in bulk, imports them, they go through all possible checks, through paying customs duties, you have warehouses, you pay workers, you have an online store or a physical store, you create employment - these traders are at a disadvantage compared to Chinese platforms“, she explained.
Genova-Rudolf predicts that the new regime may lead to a change in the operating model of large platforms. The expectation is that they will increasingly import goods in commercial quantities into the EU and then distribute them as intra-community shipments. “Ultimately, this will bring consumers even faster delivery, even better price predictability and fair taxation“, she said.
The representative of the “Customs“ Agency specified that the 3 euro fee is only the first step. According to her, a fee for processing each shipment is also expected to be introduced in the fall. For shipments over 150 euros, the regime remains as before - taxation will depend on the specific item and its customs code.
Genova-Rudolf assured that Bulgarian customs have already adapted their systems to the new European requirements. “Tests are currently underway, and by July 1 we will have a working system“, she said. At the same time, she specified that a very small share of these shipments passes through Bulgaria as customs processing - less than 1% of the total volume.
She warned that there may be unpleasant surprises for some consumers around the transition period. It is possible that shipments ordered before July 1, but arriving after that date, will be subject to the new fee.