The flood of untaxed and sometimes unsafe items prompted the European Commission to suggest a short lived resolution for the packages below €150 a month in the past. This “de minimis” rule permits exporters like Shein and Temu to ship merchandise on to shoppers, usually bypassing scrutiny.
The EU has already acquired extra packages within the first 9 months of 2025 than in your complete earlier 12 months, when the counter hit 4.6 billion.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure referred to as it “a literal invasion of parcels in Europe final 12 months,” which might have hit “7, 8, 9 billion within the coming years if nothing was accomplished.”
An EU official informed POLITICO earlier this month that at some airports, as much as 80 % of such packages arriving don’t adjust to EU security guidelines. This creates an enormous workload for customs officers, a rising pile of rubbish, and well being dangers from unsafe toys and kitchen objects.
EU nations have already agreed to formally abolish the de-minimis loophole, however taxing all objects primarily based on their precise worth and product sort would require extra knowledge change. That will solely be attainable as soon as an formidable reform of the bloc’s Customs Union, presently below negotiation, is accomplished by 2028. The €3 flat tax is the non permanent resolution to cowl the interval till then.
The rising recognition of internet retailers like Shein and Temu, which each function out of China is fueling this flood. France suspended entry to Shein’s on-line platform this month.
This €3 EU-wide tax will probably be distinct from the so-called dealing with charge that France has proposed as part of its nationwide price range to alleviate the prices on customs for coping with the identical flood of packages.
Klara Durand and Camille Gijs contributed to this report.
