A Belgian state watchdog has issued a stark warning about the country’s growing struggle to manage a massive influx of low-value packages from China, as the European Union seeks to tighten control over e-commerce imports.
According to the Central Economic Council of Belgium, the number of small parcels arriving in the country has tripled in 2024, reaching an astonishing volume of three million packages per day.
“This is an explosive increase, and these parcels originate predominantly from China,” the council said in a report reviewed by AFP on July 10.
The report described the situation as “a tsunami of packages” that is overwhelming Belgian infrastructure. It warned that existing resources within customs and other inspection agencies are grossly insufficient to handle the surge.
The council urged the Belgian government to immediately strengthen its customs services and to collaborate more actively with EU counterparts to expedite the implementation of bloc-wide regulations aimed at controlling the unchecked flow of small parcels.
Belgium plays a key role as a logistical entry point for goods into the European Union, particularly through the Port of Antwerp and the Liege air freight hub, both of which have become crucial conduits for Chinese e-commerce exports.
In response to mounting concerns, the European Union announced in May that it was preparing to impose a flat €2 fee on billions of low-value parcels entering the EU each year—the vast majority of which come from China.
