Brussels to take on flood of online shopping parcels from China

The European Commission on Wednesday announced measures to better stem the flood of cheap, and sometimes unsafe, products from outside the European Union including China.

“E-commerce has revolutionized shopping. Three out of four Europeans shop online regularly. Yet the surge of imported goods can pose threats to the rights of European consumers and their safety,” said Michael McGrath, EU commissioner for consumer protection.

In 2024 around 4.6 billion parcels with a value not exceeding €150 ($156.2) entered the EU market, amounting to 12 million parcels per day, according to commission figures.

Over 90% of low-value consignments arriving in the EU come from China.

“This is twice as many as in 2023 and three times as many as in 2022, and many of these goods have found to be non-compliant with European legislation,” the commission said.

To offset the costs incurred by customs authorities due to the enormous volume of such shipments, the commission proposed a handling fee for e-commerce goods delivered directly to consumers.

In addition, the duty exemption for low-value parcels worth less than €150 is to be removed to ensure that all retailers – regardless of their location – have the same competitive conditions.

The EU is planning increased controls and coordinated measures to prevent the sale of unsafe or non-EU-compliant products.

The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) welcomed the announcement and called on the EU and its member countries to “be bolder in cases of non-compliance.”

“If the EU is serious about protecting consumers and hitting the road to decarbonization, it must ensure everybody plays by the same rules,” said Agustín Reyna, director general of the BEUC.