It’s easy to buy things from China, especially if you need replacements or things that are too expensive in Europe.
This has nothing to do with unfair competition. It just has to do with being able to give its customers good products at a low price. And you know how important it is to keep a job these days.
On the other hand, even the biggest companies and brands use the Chinese market to make more money.
But despite how convenient it is to buy in bulk from China, there are some risks involved, such as your package getting stuck in customs. What do I need to do? Who can I talk to about this? Is there a company that can help you do your job better?
Package stuck in customs: why does it happen?
With globalization, goods are traded faster than they were a few decades ago.
The products are shipped more quickly and can get to their destination quickly. Without a doubt, the Internet makes it easier to buy and sell things. All you need is a simple Internet connection and a way to pay online (like PayPal, a credit card, AliPay, etc.).
Visit the website, choose the items you want, put them in your “virtual shopping basket,” place an order, choose where you want them shipped, and pay right away. After that, the package will be at home in just a few days.
If the goods come from another country, like the United States or China, the shipping time will be longer. This is because many retailers in these countries don’t have warehouses in the European Union, like companies that work directly with Amazon.
And China is a problem because of its bad reputation.
When you think of China, you might think of fake goods, goods that don’t follow European rules, goods made with cheap labor, and clothes that could be bad for your health.
When you buy things from China online, especially in large quantities, the package may get stuck at customs.
This doesn’t mean that when you buy something from a company like Alibaba, you should worry that the package won’t get to you at home. Instead, it just means that you may have some small problems at customs.
The conditional is required because people who buy goods in bulk do so in order to sell them again in Italy to the “final consumer.” This is the person who will buy and use the product you’re selling. How they use it will depend on what they buy.
There are many European laws that say how a product should be made and sold within the European Union. These laws are meant to protect the health and safety of the final consumer. If the goods don’t meet these special rules that all EU countries have to follow, the packages could be held at customs.
European regulations don’t just deal with how a product is made (for example, the type of material used to make a T-shirt, the alloy used to make pots, the dyes and plastics used to make many toys, etc.). They also deal with things like:
The papers that come with the goods (the certificates don’t meet European standards or aren’t enough);
The type of goods traded (some goods can’t be brought into Europe at all because of European laws);
Making fakes of goods that are sold;
The price that was said and the price that was paid.
There is a big difference between trade in Europe and trade around the world. The first is based on one of the most important ideas of the European Union, which is that goods should be able to move around freely. The second, on the other hand, has a lot of problems when a European country and a non-European country, like Italy and China, trade with each other.
Several rules and the new Customs Code make trade in Europe easier today. The new Customs Code is valid for all EU countries that want to fully digitize their customs system by 2020.
On the other hand, international trade is based on customary rules and deals that the European Union and other countries have made. The goal of these agreements is to set up a trade policy that will encourage free trade, define customs tariffs, protect intellectual and industrial property, and protect the rights of the final consumer who will benefit from these goods.
Because of this, a package bought in China could be held up at customs.
Package stuck in customs: how does it happen?
You can tell that customs has stopped your package in two ways:
through a direct message from the person in charge of getting goods through customs; using the famous track number to check on the status of the order. (Click here to find out where your package is from China.)
It is not always the Customs Agency’s job to keep track of how the permits are used. In some countries, like Italy, the National Postal Service is in charge of sorting goods that come from other countries.
It is the only middleman for shipments between a country in Europe and a country outside of Europe, even if an express courier is used to deliver the goods.
You could use the contact information you gave when you made the purchase to talk about problems at customs. The most common ways to get in touch with someone are by phone or email.
If you don’t hear anything, you can use the tracking number given to you when the goods are sent to the customer to see if there are any problems with customs.
The track number is an alphanumeric code that can be put into the National Postal Service website’s “search for shipments” section.
You can find out where your package is and how to track it if it gets stuck in customs by looking at the page that opens.
There are checks for goods coming into a country and checks for goods leaving the country. If you’ve bought things from China, you might be interested in the checks that are done on all goods bought in a third country and brought into Europe.
There are two kinds of checks. The first one looks at the taxes that the European Union and the home country collect on goods that are brought in.
These have to do with the kinds of goods that are brought in. When goods are brought in from outside the country, there are two types of taxes that must be paid. If the package ends up in an EU country, the EU will pay the duties, but the country where the package ends up will pay the VAT.
Even if you buy goods from China, the law says you have to pay VAT. This is especially true if you run a business that sells goods to other stores.
Since these are tax checks, they will only look at the documents that come with the imported goods, like the customs bill. If there is a good reason to think that the goods don’t follow European rules, a different check will be done on the goods themselves.
Package stuck in customs: when does it happen?
The Customs Agency has said more than once that it is possible, but not required, to check imported goods in person.
This means that it doesn’t happen to all packages that come from outside of Europe to Italy. It only happens to products that may not meet European laws. Let’s look at some of the reasons.
A package may be held at customs if it is said to contain goods that aren’t allowed or that can’t be sent without a special permit. Goods with limits
Flammable or potentially flammable substances, Dangerous goods, weapons, and explosives can’t be sold without a special permit. Think about the traditional fireworks that are used at the end of the year or the boys’ firecrackers;
Prohibited medicines. Just look around the Internet and you’ll see that foreign companies make chemicals that are illegal in the U.S. because they are bad for your health. They also make products that you can only buy with a prescription and after a specific test. If you buy them online, you get around European rules, but you also get into a very dangerous market for yourself and others.
Products that can be traced back to protected environments. For example, archeological finds that are very important to history and culture or things that can’t be sold to protect nature and animals. To stop poaching, it is against the law to sell coral, ivory, and ointments made from the bodies of certain endangered animals. The goal of the law is to stop people from stealing archaeological treasures.
Unauthorized plants or animals. For example, there are fatty plants that can only be sold in the EU with a special permit, and if they are brought in without the right paperwork, they can be held at customs. If you know this ahead of time, you can even avoid making a complaint if the police find the plants being sold again on national territory;
Drugs. Due to the fact that scams can be used to get around drug laws, the online drug market is growing all the time. In this area, the controls are getting stranger and more focused on online drug trafficking;
Food and Drinks. To give you an example, if you want to export Italian wine abroad, you have to do a number of things to make sure you follow the rules of the industry. The same is true for importing. Food is also carefully watched to protect the public’s health and safety. Last but not least, there are also fake goods.
Over time, counterfeiting has become a big problem that the Customs Agency fights with the help of the same businesses that are hurt by this unfair competition.
Anyone who owns an industrial property right (like a trademark, patent, industrial design, copyright, etc.) can ask the authorities to step in if they think that fake foreign goods are coming into the country.
Customs may hold a Chinese package if the paperwork is missing or wrong, given what’s inside.
When you buy something on the internet, even if it’s just for yourself, you’ll find a sheet with a lot of information along with the package. In addition to the weight, volume, and number of items in the package, it will say what kind of goods are inside, what they are made of, and if any permissions are needed to buy them.
If this information doesn’t match up, customs will keep the item until they get more information about what’s inside.
Package stuck in customs: how to avoid it?
Everything you just read will help you if you want to buy Chinese goods in bulk and sell them on the national market.
Don’t be afraid and don’t assume that all goods from China are automatically banned, because that’s not true. How many companies buy goods from the east that end up on the market without any problems?
He thinks that most goods, even technological ones (appliances, phones, clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.), are made in China, which was chosen because it can keep production costs low so that foreign entrepreneurs can make more money. If everything Chinese was banned, a lot of the market would be empty, and many companies in the EU would go out of business right away.
If you don’t want the package to be held up at customs, you must do everything you can to avoid any kind of trouble.
When you buy something from China, make sure the company is legitimate, has the right credentials, and gives you all the paperwork you need to bring the product into your country. It thinks that customs duties and VAT are paid by the buyer, not the seller. Because of this, the agreed price must include the taxes that the European Union and your home country will take out.
On the website of the European Commission, you can find out more about the fees that are added to packages that come from outside the European Union.
These tariffs apply to all commercial products, which means they aren’t bought for personal use and aren’t bought on occasion. They also apply to all products that are shipped in exchange for money.
Keep in mind the items that you can’t bring into the country and stay up-to-date on the list of prohibited goods. Don’t buy food products (including semi-finished or raw materials) and make sure you have the right permissions if the goods need to be approved. If you want to avoid buying fake goods, you could do some research on the Internet about products that have already been patented and are being sold by other companies. If you do these simple things, you’ll avoid most of the problems that could happen if your package gets held up at customs.
Package stuck in customs: what to do?
If you see that a package has been held up at customs but your National Postal Service hasn’t gotten in touch with you for more information, the first thing you could do is call them. You can do this by calling, sending an email, or chatting online with an agent.
Some Postal Services let you get in touch with them through social media. For example, you can leave a private message on their Facebook page and an operator will tell you what to do if your package is held up at customs.
If you get a letter from the National Postal Service, you will probably be asked to send more paperwork, which usually includes:
A copy of your government-issued ID and your VAT number;
A copy of the document that proves you bought the goods and paid for them and the shipment;
Describe what’s inside the package.
The process should be unblocked in a few days, but it could take longer if the people sorting are slow or if there are problems during the check.
In this case, you can go back to your national post service and ask for more information, or you can contact a company that specializes in import services from China. This company will take care of all the steps needed to buy products from China.