The move comes during a period of increased demand for Chinese products in the EU market, with regulators aiming to mitigate dangerous products from entering the region. Additionally, the agency advised EU lawmakers to phase out the exemption on customs duties that is acceptable for parcels under EUR 150, which allows foreign suppliers to sell goods in the union without facing the tax.
As part of its latest announcement, the European Commission underlined that many of the low-value products that come into the EU every year fail to comply with its laws. This leads to European companies that respect the laws losing out to competitors selling alleged unsafe or counterfeit products. Commenting on the news, representatives from the commission highlighted that the EU has witnessed a substantial surge in low-value products sold by non-EU traders retailed by online marketplaces. They added that many of those products were found unsafe, counterfeit, or dangerous, with them often not meeting imposed standards.
Furthermore, the European Commission intends to collaborate with national customs authorities from the EU’s 27 member states in a combined effort to focus on unsafe products sold online. As part of its actions, the regulator urges lawmakers to scale market surveillance and testing. Also, as the expansion in low-value goods bought online is putting more pressure on customs authorities, the commission called on EU lawmakers to eliminate the duty exemption on imports priced below EUR 150. At the same time, the organisation advised that European lawmakers implement a handling fee on retailers to cover the costs of supervising compliance with EU regulatory requirements.
In addition to the dangers that these low-cost products could pose to individuals and how heavily they weigh on customs authorities, the European Commission expressed concerns over the environmental damage caused by the increase in inexpensive imports, including the pollution involved in their production and transport, as well as the significant difficulties that European recycling authorities face when dealing with low-quality or hard-to-recycle products. The executive body of the European Union pushed lawmakers to accelerate work on a draft law that could make manufacturers of textiles and footprint pay fees to fund waste collection and treatment.
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