Sign on the UK government's site: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/111606/sponsors/XaXMTOVCXFq9I57khG5

We are fed up of being gouged by postal carriers for unfair fees when buying goods online from abroad.

Presently, postal carriers charge an arbitrarily high and seemingly unregulated fee for processing the import of goods on our behalf without our prior consent. We challenge the legality of this and demand an end to this practice.

As a citizen of the United Kingdom, buying goods from international sellers is something of a minefield when it comes to knowing exactly how much the recipient of said goods will pay. This is largely due to the taxes and duties levied on the transaction. Typically, one can expect to pay the following:

• Customs duty (rate varies depending on the value and type of the goods)
• VAT (on the cost of the goods plus delivery charges)
• Excise duty (if the goods are alcohol or tobacco)

These duties can also be applied on top of having paid duties local to the good's country of origin.

Many postal carriers will pay these duties upon import in advance of delivery on behalf of the recipient in order to expedite release of the goods from customs. However, for this service, they usually charge a fee, which can be a significant proportion of the final amount invoiced to the recipient of the goods.

The purpose of this petition is not to absolve the recipient from their legal obligation to pay the duties levied by HMRC. This petition calls for an end to the practice of postal carriers charging excessive fees for their service.

In order for a company to levy a fee for a service, a contract must be knowingly and willingly entered into by both parties of their own volition. With the current state of affairs, the recipient of a delivery is not given the opportunity to consent to any such contract prior to being invoiced. In addition, the recipient is not normally offered the choice as to which postal carrier is used. Therefore, the fee that they pay is pre-determined by the sender's choice of postal carrier.

Whether the collection of the fee is legally enforceable at present is clearly a grey area as there are many reports of postal carriers waiving their fees without a fight once challenged, provided that the duties are paid.

This petition proposes two ways in which this issue may be resolved:

1. Clarify the legal position of the recipient. Unambiguously state that recipient is liable for such fees from the postal carrier. With this option, the fees must be regulated in order to protect the consumer from exorbitant charges.
2. Abolish this practice entirely. The payment of all duties should be a transaction between the recipient and HMRC - the carrier need not get involved. Only after this transaction has successfully concluded should the parcel be released to the postal carrier for delivery to the recipient. This should remove all of the administrative overhead from the postal carrier thereby negating the need for an administrative charge.