The European Union has failed to stem the flow of mass imports from Chinese retailers following the introduction of a three-euro tax on parcels.
The European Union introduced the new customs duty on July 1 to regulate the volume of low-value goods entering the trading bloc from overseas. However, Chinese retail platforms including Shein, Temu and AliExpress have maintained their sales volumes by opening European warehouses and offering aggressive discounts of up to 68 percent and 80 percent.
Greek consumers have continued to purchase goods at similar rates, while adapting their shopping habits to minimize the impact of the new customs fees.
Instead of buying individual items that attract the full three-euro charge, shoppers are grouping multiple products of the same type into single orders. This purchasing strategy reduces the additional customs cost to between one euro and 1.50 euros per item, with the per-item fee decreasing further on larger orders.
While the total number of parcels entering Greece from China has fallen slightly, domestic retail businesses have observed that the overall value of the incoming orders has increased.
Customs authorities are facing significant pressure due to a backlog of delayed parcels requiring clearance under the new bureaucratic system. Greek consumers who experience shipping delays of more than 11 days are receiving compensation from the retail platforms in the form of five-euro shopping vouchers.
European logistics network
To avoid the individual import taxes, Chinese retailers are establishing logistics partnerships within the European Union. Companies are securing warehouse space in Poland, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, with plans to expand their operations into Greece.
By importing products in bulk to these facilities, such as shipping 1,000 mobile phone cases together, retailers pay a single customs duty for the entire shipment. Once the goods are inside the European Union, they can be distributed across member states as standard intra-community transactions without incurring further border taxes.
Shein responded to the July legislation by adding an option for consumers to purchase goods directly from European warehouses. The retailer offers free shipping on orders over 19 euros, while applying a 4.90-euro delivery fee for locker and store pickups on less expensive baskets.
September customs test
The customs challenges observed in Greece reflect a broader European pattern during the first month of the new tax framework. Romanian authorities were forced to extend their previous import system for several weeks after their customs mechanism collapsed under the strain.
Market analysts consider September to be the critical test for the new customs system. Many of the parcels cleared by authorities during July had been ordered in June, before the legislation took effect.
The Greek state has emerged as the primary beneficiary of the new system. The national treasury retains 25 percent of every three-euro duty collected, which equates to 75 cents per parcel.
Future environmental regulations
The current three-euro duty on packages valued under 150 euros is a transitional measure scheduled to end on June 30, 2028.
The European Union plans to replace the interim fee with a comprehensive pan-European import platform. The future system will apply exact tariffs, value-added tax and environmental levies to all Chinese imports, rather than the current flat rate.
The 2028 framework will include green taxes based on the environmental footprint of each item. Authorities will also block products from entering the trading bloc if they fail to meet European manufacturing and safety standards, or if they contain prohibited chemicals, plastics and pesticides.
