BHETA’s ‘small parcels’ lobbying campaign, which aims to persuade the Government to significantly reduce the UK’s ‘De Minimis’ £135 threshold for import duty, ideally to zero, has seen the Chancellor agree to review the customs treatment of low value imports.
The De Minimis threshold refers to the value below which goods can be imported into a country without incurring customs duties.
BHETA’s Chief Operating Officer, Will Jones explained that there has been a sharp rise in the volume of products sold directly to consumers in the UK by overseas producers in ‘small parcels’ over the last five years: “The inability of the Border Force to check most of these small B2C imports, has led to danger to consumers from unsafe product, massive losses in VAT revenue for the Government and huge challenges for UK producers unable to compete on a level playing field.
“Rachel Reeves announcement of immediate action by the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA), the body responsible for defending the UK against unfair international trade practices is very encouraging and recognises our industry wide campaign. A change in the De Minimis rate would be good news for all UK suppliers and good news for consumers in terms of product safety and quality.”
The Government’s new stance on the matter comes as part of a raft of measures designed to mitigate the impact of unfair trading practices, such as the ‘dumping’ of cheap goods into the UK market, better monitoring of trade data and increased support for businesses to report unscrupulous activity by overseas companies.
An estimated 100 million small parcel shipments arrived in the UK from overseas sellers in 2023, due to the rise of shopping giants like Temu, Shein, Amazon and eBay. Most enter the country with minimal or no checks, and frequently bypass UK trade legislation. This includes goods such as fake iPhone chargers and other potentially dangerous electrical products, items which include toxic materials, and bladed articles which undermine Home Office and police campaigns against knife crime.
The Government is conducting a consultation and BHETA will continue to represent its members’ views. If individual stakeholders are looking to engage the government on the review of the customs treatment of low value imports, they can do so via lowvalueimports@hmtreasury.gov.uk.
“BHETA’s ability to lobby successfully on behalf of its members grows with every campaign. By adding the association’s voice to the drive to address De Minimis and small parcels, we have helped to get the issue onto the Government’s agenda, and a positive outcome more likely. Such an outcome would be a considerable benefit to BHETA members, and UK suppliers in general."
BHETA has been working with BIRA, GIMA, and RAVAS on this project. Andrew Goodacre, CEO of BIRA, said: “Since our October conference, BIRA has been working closely with BHETA and RAVAS to bring these issues to the government’s attention. It is pleasing that the government has been listening and is now taking action.”
www.bheta.co.uk
