Posti starts charging for delivering online purchases from outside EU

This Friday, 31 January, the Finnish Postal Service (Posti) starts charging 2,90 euros for delivering the online-purchases which arrive in Finland from outside the European Union (EU).

This change in Posti's delivery policy was announced at the beginning of December 2019. It consists in a so-called 'processing fee' that the postal operator will apply to any shipment of more than 22 euros that arrives from outside the fiscal territory of the EU.

"As international e-commerce grows, the fee will cover the costs of handling, reporting and storage of the shipments," Posti said in a press release in December.

The company says the majority of parcels arriving in Finland are low value shipments of less than 22 euros, which according to Posti "will not be charged at this stage." The company has also stated that the new charge will improve the competitiveness of domestic e-commerce.

Other Nordic countries such as Sweden and Iceland have introduced similar charges.

HOW TO PAY

Customers will receive a paper-based arrival notification or an electronic notification of a customs clearance shipment to the OmaPosti service.

This notification will include all the instructions on how to make the payment with a credit card through the secure website Posti.fi.

Shipment taxes and the handling fee must be paid within 20 days after arrival in Finland of the shipment. Once both payments have been made, Posti said will deliver the parcel "immediately" to the recipient. In case the payment is not properly done, the shipment will be returned to the sender.