Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of levels of costs for businesses of UK customs clearance fees on imported goods from the EU.

Under the Postal Services Act 2000, postal operators are authorised to recover customs or excise duties charged on imported postal packets, including those from the EU. Goods over £135 attract a VAT or Customs Duty. Postal operators may collect these charges on behalf of HMRC from the recipient prior to delivery. A handling fee is also applied to cover the associated administrative costs.

All international courier and postal operators charge fees for their customs support services, and the Government does not have any authority over the charges they make, as these are commercial decisions for the operators.