(JB) Shoppers who order goods from outside of the EU to be delivered to Luxembourg may have to pay an additional customs agency fee from September 1.

The change means that any private individual ordering goods from outside the EU and delivered by Post and are valued between 22 and 150 euros, will be charged 15 euros, plus VAT on the combined cost of postage and value of goods.

There is no customs agency fee on goods valued at under 22 euros. For delivery of goods valued at 150 euros or above, the customs fee is handled by CFL Logistics.

“Until now, Post has settled the customs fee itself on behalf of the customer. That takes time, and it costs us also,” Post press officer Marc Sauer told wort.lu/en. “Here we've taken the decision to intervene for parcels valued at 22 euros or above."

The change, which was not widely announced, came into effect on September 1, when at least one customer was given an unpleasant surprise.

One disgruntled wort.lu/en reader, who had to pay 15 euros for a book ordered from the US valued at 25 USD, said: "15 euros tax for a book costing 25 USD, how do they justify close to 70% taxation on such an item?“

Full details of the change (in French) can be found on the Post website.