Important Question regarding Remembering in Belgium

[von Smallhausen]

Dear all,

Every year some British relatives send poppycrosses and wreaths which I put on their relatives grave in the area where I live with deep respect. Now since 1 July 2021 and the Brexit, new postal rates apply. Now, I would have to pay 15 € per shipment as an administration fee. Especially for a box with wreath. Have no idea if I should pay this for an envelope with poppycross. Went to the post office this morning and the employee couldn’t answer me either.

To avoid costs I I can buy the wreath here in Belgium if the family wants me to, if they send money and a card for the wreath. But what about a cross sent in an envelope? Could a British user of this forum let me know if a cross in an envelope is regarded as letter post or as a parcel. If you send a poppycross do you have to fill in custom papers?

Any experience with this kind of sending Remembrance items would be gratefully received.

With kind regards from Flanders,

 

Jef

Formatting corrected by moderator

[AOK4]

Hi Jef,

I fear this is indeed as it is nowadays. Customs duties (and/or administration costs) have to be paid for items sent from the UK as it doens't belong to the EU any more. A lot of is it just politics in my opinion (a kind of pay-back for Brexit) as also cheap things get taxed or checked (hence the administration cost even if no customs duties are to be paid).

Until an agreement between the UK and the EU is reached over all this, customs duties will have to be paid.

Jan

[michaeldr]

Jef,

Not quite the same circumstances as I am outside of the UK & of Europe

however, after several frustrating experiences with the RBL's poppy factory (they could never get my address right) I have recently been purchasing my wreaths from the British embassy here. The staff could not be more helpful or obliging and everything now goes very smoothly indeed.

regards, Michael

[EDIT to add: The embassy work in the local currency]

Edited 27 September , 2021 by michaeldr

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

3 hours ago, von Smallhausen said:

Now, I would have to pay 15 € per shipment as an administration fee. Especially for a box with wreath. Have no idea if I should pay this for an envelope with poppycross. Went to the post office this morning and the employee couldn’t answer me either. 

Why the scrollbars?

They make it very difficult to read the points you make.

[ss002d6252]

7 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Why the scrollbars?

They make it very difficult to read the points you make.

It seems to have been a formatting issue - I've edited it.

Craig

[von Smallhausen]

Thank you Jan and Michael for your answers.

Dai Bach, sorry for the scrollbars. I have no idea, I must have done something wrong when posting.

Thank you Craig for editing the post into normal. 

But does anyone know if you have to fill in custom forms if you are sending a small Poppycross in an envelope to Belgium. If you don't have to fill in such documents, this means it's normal letter post. 

Jef

[knittinganddeath]

51 minutes ago, von Smallhausen said:

But does anyone know if you have to fill in custom forms if you are sending a small Poppycross in an envelope to Belgium. If you don't have to fill in such documents, this means it's normal letter post. 

Full disclosure: I'm neither British nor Belgian. However, I do send a lot of post. In my experience, if something can be "disguised" as documents (i.e. mostly flat and not too soft) it can go as normal letter post. You could pad the envelope with random printouts or newspapers to make any lumpiness less noticeable.

Otherwise I would simply tell the families that they need to cover the cost of the admin fee, and so you will be charging an extra 15 euros for your services.

[AOK4]

2 hours ago, von Smallhausen said:

Thank you Jan and Michael for your answers.

Dai Bach, sorry for the scrollbars. I have no idea, I must have done something wrong when posting.

Thank you Craig for editing the post into normal. 

But does anyone know if you have to fill in custom forms if you are sending a small Poppycross in an envelope to Belgium. If you don't have to fill in such documents, this means it's normal letter post. 

Jef

Jef,

There should be a form attached (CN22?).

More info on the bpost website: https://www.bpost.be/nl/pakje-ontvangen/douane

Jan

[von Smallhausen]

OK Jan, thank you so much.  This morning I got some leaflets in the post office about parcels from abroad etc. Apologies, maybe I worded my question wrong.

I was wondering if the British postal service considers a poppycross envelope to be a parcel or common letter post. It's not tick, only a few mm and you can send it in a A5 envelope.

If sent as letter post, there won't extra fee. 

I hope a British user of this forum has an answer on this.

again thank you for your feedback,

Jef

 

[von Smallhausen]

Dear Knittingganddeath,

Thank you for your answer. As some relatives became friends for live I would tell them how to send their mail. A box with a wreath that's a parcel for sure. Is an envelope with a poppycross a letter or a parcel ? 

with kind regards,

Jef

[AOK4]

47 minutes ago, von Smallhausen said:

OK Jan, thank you so much.  This morning I got some leaflets in the post office about parcels from abroad etc. Apologies, maybe I worded my question wrong.

I was wondering if the British postal service considers a poppycross envelope to be a parcel or common letter post. It's not tick, only a few mm and you can send it in a A5 envelope.

If sent as letter post, there won't extra fee. 

I hope a British user of this forum has an answer on this.

again thank you for your feedback,

Jef

 

It doesn't matter what the UK postal services think, it's the Belgian customs that decide what it is. And as it is NOT a letter/document (even if the enveloppe is the size of a letter), it is considered as "goods" and thus liable to customs duties...

Jan

[von Smallhausen]

Ok Jan, Thank you. 

Kind regards,

Jef

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

49 minutes ago, AOK4 said:

it's the Belgian customs that decide what it is. And as it is NOT a letter/document (even if the enveloppe is the size of a letter), it is considered as "goods" and thus liable to customs duties...

I wonder if they would look kindly at waiving such duties on wreaths, poppy crosses and other such imported memorial items for soldiers who gave their lives to save Belgium's sovereignty and independence?

[Marilyne]

Hi, 

If you go on the link that was sent earlier... if your parcel is registered as a "present", "gift" of maximum 45€ (although it might be less) then the receiver will not have to pay extra fees.  same goes for books btw... I tried that with a friend, who send me a parcel: he indicated the total amount of the goods being less than 20€, said it was a gift (meaning I did not pay for it) and sent it out. It arrived OK. 

I think that in your case, the best thing to do is to get the wreaths and the crosses here in Belgium and ask the persons you lay them for to just send you the note they want attached. 

M.

[AOK4]

22 minutes ago, Marilyne said:

If you go on the link that was sent earlier... if your parcel is registered as a "present", "gift" of maximum 45€ (although it might be less) then the receiver will not have to pay extra fees.  same goes for books btw... I tried that with a friend, who send me a parcel: he indicated the total amount of the goods being less than 20€, said it was a gift (meaning I did not pay for it) and sent it out. It arrived OK.

And for that an official document has to be attached to the enveloppe (I believe CN22 customs declaration or something alike). Without the document attached on the outside, it may be checked.

The max value of a gift should also always be checked before sending. And of course, customs may not agree on the declared value (to avoid people sending expensive stuff as "cheap gifts").

[Marilyne]

you' re right... 

in short: "on n'est pas sortis de l'auberge" ... 

M.

[von Smallhausen]

Thank you Marylene and Jan. It seems UK is at the end of the world .....

Jef