Which goods should you avoid purchasing?

Counterfeit goods are imitations and reproductions of branded products. They are an infringement of intellectual property rights. They constitute a danger to your health and your everyday life!

Imagine for one moment:

• taking medicine that does not contain the active principle and is therefore ineffective
• your mobile phone exploding when charging its battery

Moreover, counterfeit goods are a real plague for the national economies and an actual threat to employment within the European Union.

How can you recognize counterfeit goods?

• abnormally low prices
• inferior quality and finish of the product.
• unusual places of sale
• spelling mistakes on the packaging or in the instructions

What are the possible consequences and penalties if you bring counterfeit goods?

The Customs administration is entitled to take action if counterfeit goods are imported, exported or re-exported, and is also authorized to intervene on the national territory. 

If you do decide to bring counterfeit goods for commercial purposes, you should know that any infringement can be punished by:

• the confiscation and destruction of the detained goods, as well as the payment of the related handling and destruction costs.
• a claim for damages by the trademark right holder, whether or not by means of judicial proceedings

in certain cases even

• a prison sentence
• a fine.

One piece of advice: always buy goods through the official sales channels!

If you wish to obtain more information, please contact the Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Security and Environment.

If you wish to obtain more information, please contact l'Agence fédérale pour la sécurité de la chaîne alimentaire.

If you wish to obtain more information, please contact l'Agence fédérale pour la sécurité de la chaîne alimentaire.

In general, bpost and courier companies will not send weapons via postal consignments. Furthermore, distance selling of weapons is prohibited in Belgium.

Apart from these restrictions, many weapons cannot be imported or exported if they are not covered by a correct authorisation. The Belgian and regional legislation includes a category of prohibited weapons that will always be seized by customs. This category contains automatic firearms and grenades, but also switchblades and knuckle-dusters. Such weapons are only intended to kill, injure or threaten persons and are never permitted for private individuals. The complete list can be found in the Belgian gun laws dated of 2016 or on the website of the Federal Public Service Justice. 

Correct authorisations are obligatory for the import of other firearms. Customs will verify the presence and content of the data on these documents and will take action if they are not compliant. The Belgian regions are competent for issuing import and export licences for arms.

Please contact the federal agency for medicines and health products for more information.

Narcotics (drugs) such as hashish, cocaine and heroin may not be taken, imported or exported across borders. If customs finds such products in a postal consignment, they will be destroyed and you will risk prosecution.

The term ‘cultural goods’ generally refers to a series of works of art that are usually found in a museum.

• Please contact:
  • Ministry of the Flemish Community
  • Public Service of Wallonia
• or the FPS Economy

Alcohol and alcoholic beverages

No duties are payable in Belgium for alcohol and alcoholic beverages when you, as a private person, purchase these beverages from a webshop established in another EU Member State and you transport them yourself from the other EU Member State.  Obviously, this is not really the purpose of online shopping.

However, if the seller of the webshop in the other EU Member State transports alcohol and alcoholic beverages from this other EU Member State to you, as a private person, then this will be called ‘distance selling’. Excise duties, packaging levy and VAT become due on delivery of the goods in Belgium.

In theory, the foreign seller who arranges the transport to you, as a private person, or his Belgian tax representative is obliged to pay the aforementioned excise duties, packaging levy and VAT. However, if these persons fail to do so, you may ultimately be obliged to pay the Belgian duties.

Non-alcoholic beverages, tea and coffee

No duties are payable in Belgium for non-alcoholic beverages, tea and coffee when you, as a private person, purchase these beverages from a webshop established in another EU Member State and you transport them yourself from the other EU Member State. Obviously, this is not really the purpose of online shopping!

Sellers offering non-alcoholic beverages, tea or coffee through their webshop and arranging the transport to you in Belgium, as a private person, have to pay the Belgian excise duties.

In order to avoid unpleasant surprises, pay careful attention that invoices include excise duties.

Manufactured tobacco

In Belgium it is prohibited to purchase or sell manufactured tobacco (cigarettes, cigars, smoking tobacco, water pipe tobacco, etc.) through webshops or web platforms.

This means that any webshop, even if it is located in an EU Member State or in a country that is not part of the EU, that sells manufactured tobacco online in Belgium, is operating illegally. Furthermore, making such purchase in Belgium is punishable.

The sale in Belgium of e-cigarettes (containing nicotine) and their refills through a webshop is also prohibited.

Check the excise duties

Did you know that excise duty rates are still different in all EU Member States? You can find the applicable excise duty rates at www.fisconetplus.be, Fiscaliteit, Accijnzen, Administratieve richtlijnen, accijnstarieven. The amounts that are mentioned are for information purposes only and cannot be used to establish findings in case they are obsolete or incorrect. 

We can detain your consignment (for the duration of the examination) or seize it in the following situations:

• Violation is suspected and requires further examination
• Violation is clear; violation of safety measures, health measures, economic measures (counterfeiting, drugs, etc.) 
• Authorisations are obliged (weapons, etc.) and not all conditions have been complied with (e.g. lacking data, etc.) 
• ...