Plane after plane of Chinese goods land at the airport in Liège, Belgium. On average, 3.6 million customs declarations are made every day, sometimes up to 8 million. This includes everything from cheap clothes and gadgets from e-commerce companies such as Shein and Temu to larger packages of white goods or medical equipment.
80 customs officers work at the airport. On average, they open a package of almost 17,000, Kristian Vanderwaeren, Director General of Belgian Customs, tells DN.
- We carry out a risk analysis and select which goods we inspect. But the quantity is problematic. What my people can do is very limited, he says.
Of the fraction of goods that are actually inspected, it is about a third that violate EU rules in some way. These may be harmless mistakes, such as an incorrectly completed declaration. But also medicines and vapes that contain unauthorized chemicals and toys that violate safety requirements. Or pure fakes of Gucci bags and soccer World Cup t-shirts.
And it is a "China problem", says the customs chief.
- The goods with which we have problems almost always come from China. Not Brazil, South Africa or Egypt. Without China.
One type of shipment stands out: makeup.
- On average, between 30 and 40 percent of all checked goods have a problem. But for cosmetics it is 90 or even 100 percent, says Kristian Vanderwaeren.
Customs does not carry out its own chemical analysis of the goods, but "problem" means that something is wrong in the customs declaration or that the goods' list of contents and certificate do not meet EU requirements.
In plain language: when a Swedish teenager buys a lipstick or a skin cream online from a Chinese low-cost company, the probability that these contain unauthorized, possibly even dangerous, substances is very high.
- If you ask me: "Are you really doing your job?" then I answer yes, we stop a lot. But these are such large quantities that I cannot assure people that we are stopping all illegal goods.
The interpretation in Europe is that many Chinese companies simply ignore adapting their production lines to EU requirements, because it costs money – and, presumably, because the risk of detection is so small.
Should Sweden and others completely stop the import of makeup from Chinese companies?
- Yes, EU countries should stop, but that is a political decision. And the EU should tell China that their export strategy is not acceptable and that their factories must comply with EU laws.
The concern and criticism that reaches Kristian Vanderwaeren from other countries' customs authorities, he takes further up the political ranks in Belgium. He has now been promised another hundred customs officials, to the total of 3,300 employed at the authority, barely more than in Sweden.
It's a drop in the ocean. The construction itself is the problem: that a small country with limited resources is the gateway to the giant European market.
So why do so many of the Chinese mass exports go through Belgium?
Partly there are geographical and historical reasons: Belgium is well located and has always been open to trade with the outside world. Partly it is a coincidence.
A few years ago, the Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba selected Liège as its European hub. This in turn attracted more companies. Then came the covid pandemic with daily flights from China with the medical equipment and face masks that the Europeans requested. And after covid, e-commerce exploded with low-cost companies Shein and Temu.
"The Chinese don't like the image that they produce crap."
In Brussels, ten miles away from Liège, EU politicians are worried about the large flow of goods, which is hurting European companies and knocking out retail trade on the continent.
This summer, a duty of 3 euros (33 kroner) was introduced on all small packages imported into the EU. The goal is to slow down Chinese online stores, which, according to the EU, abused the previous tax exemption for goods under 150 euros.
- The EU's e-commerce market remains open - but must not be at the expense of European consumers and businesses, said EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic at the time.
The customs fee has led to lower flows in Liège. But the percentage of goods that are incorrect or illegal is just as high as before, says Kristian Vanderwaeren.
At the end of the week, Trade Commissioner Sefcovic traveled to Beijing to negotiate what the EU says is an unsustainable trade balance and unfair relationship between the blocs.
Kristian Vanderwaeren believes that China would listen if the EU raised its voice.
- I could be wrong, but my impression from the contacts I have with Chinese authorities is that there is a will. The Chinese don't like the image that they produce crap.
