Canada Post halts parcel shipments to some European Union countries

Canada Post has suspended service to some European Union countries over new customs rules on low-value shipments.

The postal service says it’s not accepting parcels destined for a dozen countries until further notice.

They include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain.

Effective July 1, the European Union is introducing a customs duty on parcels worth up to 150 euros, or about $240, imported from outside the bloc.

The Council of the EU website says a three-euro duty ($4.85) will be charged per item category.

“For example, if a parcel contains two toys, one woolen coat and three bottles of shampoo, the duty is calculated per category of goods. Each product type forms one category, and a 3 euro duty applies to each. With three categories, the total duty comes to 9 euros,” the website says.

It says many parcels are undervalued or falsely declared to avoid customs duties, while current rules give non-EU sellers an “unfair advantage” over businesses that manufacture or sell products in the European Union.

Canada Post says it will continue accepting shipments to other EU destinations while it works to implement compliant solutions in the affected markets.

On Friday, a Manitoba author said the stoppage in service will have wide-reaching implications for business owners and individuals.

Volker Beckmann, who has lived in Thompson since 1959, said he was trying to send two of his books to Italy when he was told by a Canada Post employee the system was down. He was advised to price out the package from his home computer.

However, after having no luck, he was told in a chat by Canada Post customer service that the package would go nowhere because parcel shipments to Europe had been paused.

“I feel it’s unacceptable,” he said. “It’s frustrating, obviously, and very disconcerting to say you can’t send a package to Europe anymore.”

Canada Post detailed the loss of service on its website, but didn’t issue a news release to media outlets.

Beckmann, who is vice-president of the Thompson Chamber of Commerce, said he’s frustrated he had to hear about the change from Canada Post support, as opposed to the post office employee, saying Canada Post has a responsibility to inform its customers about major changes.

“I’m certainly looking forward to some kind of solution as soon as possible,” he said. “But again, it comes to the question: ‘is the public being informed?’ of the conditions, or the ramifications, so that everybody can make alternative arrangements.”

Phil Legault, a spokesperson with Canada Post, confirmed there is a disruption to certain European countries, but did not respond to a followup question as to why there was no news release or mass notification issued on the change. Something Beckmann called a “lack of communication” on Canada Post’s part.

Beckmann said he’ll be making his chamber of commerce counterparts aware of the changes, saying he expects the effect of the service disruption to be widespread.

“There’s got to be a whole bunch of other people greatly affected in a negative way, more than me trying to sell two books to somebody in Italy.”

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca