News / Ecommerce not dying, just 'growing up', say forwarders as EU change looms

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Looming EU de minimis changes will “reset” the business landscape, but forwarders should cool their fears of any immediate impact, suggestions are that the changes will present a host of opportunities for logistics operators to find new margins.

From 1 July, the EU will terminate its de minimis exemption for low-value imports, meaning parcels valued at less than €150 will be subject to a flat customs duty of €3, with a handling fee expected to be €2, taking effect in September.

DHL Express Europe’s chief executive, Mike Parra, told The Loadstar: “While we expect this change to fundamentally alter the trading landscape for B2C commerce, we do not believe its impact will be immediately felt in July.

“Nor do I expect it to derail business, but it will increase the criteria for moving goods into Europe, which will result in some volatility – most likely in September – for final mile and delivery as businesses get used to the changes.”

The associated fees will remain in place for at least two years as the bloc “negotiates a new unified customs regime” in the face of the rapid influx of cheap consumer goods from China propelled by the Covid-induced spike in ecommerce sales.

Forwarders – including big multinationals like DHL – have already experienced the impact of de minimis ending when the US scrapped its own exemption on goods valued below $800 last year, upending forwarder working patterns.

One SME forwarder told The Loadstar: “Before the termination, customs classification, HTS coding, bulk consolidation, FTZ and bonded warehouse strategies used to be back-office, but now they are the front-line product.

“We are seeing some customer migration from direct cross-border parcel into US-based bulk and fulfilment. Freighters that used to fly ecommerce parcels are repositioning into general cargo lanes, and rates on those routes have softened. It is a recalibration, not a collapse.”

Nor were they alone, several North American forwarders noted that the end of the exemption was leading to a shift away from handling single items and fragmented B2C parcel clearance toward consolidated B2B2C import structures.

For those willing to tap into the changes, opportunities are emerging to support multichannel e-commerce flows by combining services, like B2B and B2C fulfilment, customs services, and bonded warehousing operations.

Co-owner of Argents Tony Chiappetta said: “The headline is not ‘e-commerce is dying’ but ‘it is growing up’. The supply chain has to look like real again with declared values, real duties, real compliance and real partners managing it. This is a healthier industry, not a smaller one.”