For more than a month, a new duty has been in effect in the European Union, which is charged on goods valued up to 150 euros ordered from countries outside the EU. For each item in such a package, a fee of 3 euros must be paid, and the initial results show that this innovation has already affected consumer behavior, writes Latvijas Avīze. According to the State Revenue Service (SRS), in July, the number of packages that went through customs clearance in Latvia was about a quarter less than in June. One reason is that the duty is charged not on the entire package but on each individual item. Therefore, the more different items are in the online store's cart, the higher the total amount to be paid becomes. According to market participants, some customers abandon their orders precisely after seeing the final cost. In the first month of the new rules, the duty generated about 1.25 million euros, while the total amount of customs duties collected in July exceeded 5 million euros. At the same time, most of these funds do not remain in Latvia. According to EU rules, 75% of collected customs duties are transferred to the EU budget, while 25% remains in the country where the package was cleared. This principle has drawn criticism from Latvijas Pasts. The company believes that the existing system is unfair, as countries that handle a large number of international shipments bear a significant burden but receive only a small portion of the revenues. According to company representative Matiss Rutks, the new rules may also change the e-commerce market itself. Large online platforms are already interested in establishing warehouses within the EU to reduce the number of shipments requiring customs clearance. For small countries, this could have long-term consequences. If warehouses and logistics centers are primarily located in larger EU states, then the flow of goods, jobs, and revenues from processing shipments will shift there. A similar situation is observed in other European countries. According to Latvijas Pasts, in July, the volume of international shipments in various EU countries decreased by 30–60% compared to June. At the same time, experts urge caution in drawing final conclusions based on one month's results. July is traditionally considered a less active period for online shopping, so it will only be possible to determine whether the decline is a sustainable trend after analyzing data over a longer period.
