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A leading figure with one of the world’s largest business consultancies has called on the fishing tackle industry to challenge ‘unfair competitors’ operating on the standards of the products they sell.
Marko Uhl (below), a Partner & Attorney / Global Trade Advisory at Deloitte, told Angling International that the current discussion surrounding online marketplaces should focus not only on the low values and how the customs authorities can react to these competing products, but rather on the reasons for the low prices, which typically involve producing products that do not meet European safety and quality standards.
In recent years digital sites have created a huge million-plus market of consumers who are buying fishing tackle, much of which is not subjected to the same high standards as those supplied by recognised manufacturers.
In 2024, 4.6 billion parcels under €150 – 12 million shipments a day – entered the European Union, mostly from centres such as China. It is a number that has more than tripled in three years and consists of low value imports that are exempt from customs duties. “This is a huge global problem,” said Uhl. “Buyers are no longer going to retailers – they are buying from cheaper online providers, creating an uncontrolled flood of low quality and therefore cheap imports; the import customs authorities have effectively lost control because there are too many packages.
“No one foresaw how online commerce would develop as a result of direct access by consumers via the Internet. Historically, European administrative instruments designed to protect our markets and consumers were geared towards purchasing through wholesalers. The number of import transactions was lower, so customs authorities were able to fulfil their legal mission. Global trade practices were based on predictable premises.
“Prices between suppliers and importers were finely calculated and shipping costs were invoiced as actual expenses. Asian suppliers were aware that European buyers had to add import duties and shipping and insurance costs to the price of goods, which put the supplier at an economic disadvantage. In our multilateral trading system, this meant that Chinese and European suppliers were in genuine competition with each other. None of this applies to online consumer business any more.
“Third-country online retailers do business on a massive scale, and consumers benefit from the advantages the internet provides. Now, everything is so cheap and everyone is using it. Consumers can import products from anywhere across the world and do not need to pay any import duty for anything under €150.
“Up to 65% of those parcels are estimated to be undervalued in order to evade customs. In the EU the shipping and insurance costs also have to be taken into account when calculating the import duties, but these are also often understated, if given at all. This leads to a loss of market integrity and less tax revenue for the EU.
“The consumer pays nothing and benefits from the lower prices.”
The EU is now responding, but only hesitantly. This year legislation is expected to be introduced with the EU removing the customs duty exemption and applying customs duties from the first euro.
“The EU hopes that this will make online consumer shopping so expensive that the number of imported cheap items will decline. This hope may be a mirage,” cautions Uhl. “As long as prices remain low enough that shopping via online stores continues to be worthwhile for consumers despite the ‘new’ tariffs, they will continue to shop there.
“Online purchases in third countries are not only so inexpensive because no customs duties are levied, the prices are so attractive to European consumers because the cost of production is much lower. The enormous price differences are not only due to lower labour costs, especially in Asia, rather, they are primarily the result of the lower quality and safety of many online products than legally permitted in the EU.
“The EU Commission has pointed out that this has already resulted in injuries and deaths, especially in the case of electrical products. A major concern for the customs authorities is that the sheer volume of traffic means that adequate checks cannot be carried out and as a result, safety, environmental and quality standards required by law are not scrutinised.
“According to unofficial statistics only about 2% are controlled – more has to be achieved. Products that are not fit for sale are getting through unchecked,” added Uhl.
He believes that the flow of uncontrolled products can only be stopped if European and Asian products are made ‘comparable’ in terms of their standards. This would result in similar prices because the costs of production in third countries would be higher, which would lead to higher prices. Then genuine competition between retailers and (third-country) online retailers would be established (again).
The Trump administration in the USA also abolished the de minimis rule exempting low-value shipments from import duties, perhaps primarily to stem the flow of cheap products from Asia flooding the US markets. So far, the initial data is nuanced, but seems to indicate that the policy is not achieving this end. Even with import tariffs, many low-value foreign products remain popular because they are still cheaper in comparison to the US products.
“I would urge businesses to lobby for legislation that would focus on delivering stronger controls,” added Uhl. “Basically, we don’t have a legislative deficit, but rather an enforcement deficit. As long as non-EU-compliant goods pass through unchecked due to the huge volume of parcels, consumers will continue to get their (non-compliant) goods at bargain prices.
“Consumers will turn away from such platforms only when the customs authorities’ checks start stopping a meaningful number of ‘illegal low-value imports’ from entering the EU. If a large number of cheap products no longer reach buyers because customs authorities, as a result of the increased frequency of controls, have to destroy more and more packages due to non-compliance, in the medium-term customers will likely stop buying such goods.”
The EU has been working on strategic measures to stem the flow of uncontrolled products onto the market. They include:
• EU customs data hub: A digital platform to centralise customs data, enable real-time risk analysis and automate duty calculations. Expected to come into force in 2028.
• Abolition of duty exemption: The EU will remove the €150 exemption in 2026 with import duties applying from the first euro.
• Additional safeguards and VAT compliance: Handling fees, EU-based warehouses and strengthened VAT rules to ensure fair competition and reduce micro-shipment abuse.
• Transitional mechanism: An interim system to levy duties on imports of negligible value before the full EU Customs Data.
