The Belgian government is considering introducing a fee on land imported outside the European Union. A fee for EUR 2 for a shipment would affect Chinese online retailers such as AliExpress, Shein and Tem. The government intends to use revenue to help reduce the deficit of the national budget.
The proposal for a new parcel tax comes from the Government Party of Les Engagés. The measure would apply to land worth up to 150 euros and could be entered next year. It is expected to generate income of several hundred million euros, as Belgian customs expect to receive about 1.4 billion of imported land this year.
Reservation
Betom, a business association for Belgian electronic trade, responded somewhat positively. The Federation called it “the first step towards fairer conditions for Belgian retailers” and pointed to a large part of dangerous products entering Europe from China.
“The first step towards a fairer pitch”
However, Becom considers this a European problem and advocates the EU coordinated approach. If other countries do not take similar fees, risk measures will lose the intended effect or even reduce income, the CEO said to greet the decocker. “The speed with which Belgium solves is admirable, but you need to do even more.”
The Federation claims that part of the income should be reinvested in infrastructure such as scanning technology, digitally trained staff and data fund for better detection of the perpetrators.
Initiative
The Belgian plan is a similar initiative in Brussels. The European Commission also wants to introduce a fixed 2 EUR fee for land from outside the EU to be paid by platforms. For consignments to the European warehouse would be paid a fee for 0.50 euros. Unlike the Belgian proposal, EU manipulation fees would be reinvested in particular by promoting existing regulations. The budget would allow Member States to carry out more inspections in the fight against dangerous products and counterfeits.
Brussels also works on a parcel tax of EUR 2
According to experts, the fee is too low to limit the popularity of Chinese platforms in particular. The EU measures still need approval of the European Parliament and Member States and could be acquired in March 2028. At that time, the exception of import obligations – which is currently beneficial to international platforms – would also be abolished; Meanwhile, companies outside the EU may not pay these obligations for shipments worth 150 euros.
(Tagstotranslate) Belgium