Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania, Markets and Companies, Post Office, Transport

Marita Magi, manager of the international segment of parcel business at Estonian state-owned postal operator Omniva, said in a press release on Tuesday that hopes are for the next UK parcels to be forwarded on Jan. 4.

The parcels from the UK that have left the UK territory already will reach Estonia as usual.

The Estonian Tax and Customs Board, meanwhile, reminded everyone on Tuesday that due to  the exit of the UK from the European Union new rules will apply to the ordering of goods from the UK starting from the new year. 

"This means that if the value of the goods to be delivered by mail is more than 22 euros, the person who ordered the goods must declare the consignment in customs and pay the 20 percent value-added tax. If the value of the goods ordered is over 150 euros, also a customs duty has to be paid, the rate of which depends on the specific goods, plus VAT on the value of the goods and the customs duty," Reet Pargma, spokesperson for the Tax and Customs Board, said.

At this specific moment, the application of the tax depends on when the goods are dispatched. If the order is placed before the new year but the goods are dispatched on Jan. 4, the customs duty and VAT will apply. Therefore, the Tax and Customs Board has made a recommendation to residents earlier not to wait with the ordering of goods until the end of the year.  

"Consignments can be declared electronically at the e-Tax and Customs Board, and a notice from the courier company or Eesti Post showing the value of the goods, such as an invoice, a payment order or an order, is necessary for filing a customs declaration," Pargma added.

Due to very big volumes of parcel traffic with Europe and small numbers of flights between Estonia and Canada, also deliveries of parcels to Canada have been suspended. It will be possible to send parcels to Canada again from Jan. 9. 

Lietuvos Pastas (Lithuanian Post) has warned of delays in parcel deliveries to and from the United Kingdom amid new transport restrictions imposed by Lithuania and some other European countries due to fears about a new strain of coronavirus in Britain.

"We have been shipping parcels to the UK not only by air but also by land for some time now," Norbertas Zioba, head of marketing and sales at the state postal company, said in a statement.

"Border closures by the country's neighbors have disrupted ports' operations, leading to long queues of goods trucks and forcing some of them to turn back," he added. 

The UK is one of the most popular destinations for parcels from Lithuania and a transit hub for air shipments to at least ten other countries, including the United States, Australia and Canada, according to Zioba.   

Lietuvos Pastas is currently looking for alternative routes for deliveries to these countries and is diverting parcels to other transit airports, but it may temporarily stop accepting parcels to the UK, he said.