Cyprus to charge €2 processing fee on imports from outside EU single market

Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus will introduce a €2 processing charge on November 1 for all goods imported from outside the European single market, customs department spokesman George Constantinou said on Wednesday. The charge will cover parcels of any value and operate alongside the EU’s temporary €3 customs duty.

Processing charge linked to customs reform

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Constantinou distinguished the processing charge from an additional duty. He said it would cover customs checks arising from wider EU customs reforms and the introduction of the new Union Customs Code.

The temporary €3 EU duty applies to parcels valued at up to €150 that enter Europe from outside the single market. By contrast, Constantinou said, the €2 processing charge would have no value threshold.

He explained that the revised EU customs arrangements require longer working hours, potentially more staff and specialist equipment. Those resources are needed to identify dangerous goods and analyse information submitted through the department’s electronic import systems, he said.

Fewer parcels, more items per shipment

Constantinou said parcel arrivals in Cyprus from outside the single market had declined by 30 to 35 per cent since the €3 duty took effect on July 1. However, each parcel now carries more items.

Where shipments typically held one or two items previously, they now generally contain four or five, he said. As a result, the overall number of items remains approximately unchanged from before the duty was imposed.

The duty generates between €1 million and €1.5 million monthly, according to Constantinou, with around 75 per cent of the proceeds returned to the EU.

EU concerns over safety and competition

When the duty began in July, the European Commission said millions of low-value parcels reached the EU daily. It said many contained goods that failed to comply with EU safety requirements, while others were undervalued or incorrectly declared to evade customs duties.

The Commission also said the existing customs-duty exemption gave sellers outside the EU an unfair competitive advantage over businesses manufacturing or selling goods within the bloc.