Customs Cannot Handle 3.8 Million Online Purchases Per Day

Summary:

• The Bierset airport in Liège is overwhelmed by a surge in e-commerce packages, with 3.8 million products arriving daily, a 33% increase from the previous year, but customs can only inspect 0.006% of these shipments due to limited resources.

• 40% of the packages are found to have issues, including counterfeit goods, incorrect valuations, and safety concerns, prompting calls for better scanning technology and data sharing with e-commerce platforms to improve oversight.

• The Belgian customs face additional challenges, such as enforcing sanctions against Russia and addressing competitive disadvantages for European businesses due to the influx of Chinese products, leading to demands for stricter regulations on companies like Shein and Temu.