![DHL Express local CEO Gary Epstein [L], Chief of Freight Forwarding Ken Allen and local branch manager Careg Pretorius. Photo: Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/583f06fd-b7f9-42fa-9493-9db11f2e9c9f.jpg/r0_0_991_518_w576_h298_fmax.webp "DHL Express local CEO Gary Epstein [L], Chief of Freight Forwarding Ken Allen and local branch manager Careg Pretorius. Photo: Elesa Kurtz")
ONE of the world's largest online retailers has lashed a federal government proposal to hit shoppers with a $5 tax on overseas parcels, warning it will "hit consumers hard" and was a rejection of free trade principles.
Fairfax Media on Thursday revealed the Department of Home Affairs was considering a new levy on parcels to pay for spiralling biosecurity screening costs caused by an explosion in online shopping.
Parcels containing clothing, makeup and books worth less than $1000 - which now represent 90 per cent of deliveries entering Australia - would attract the new tax. Industry sources have calculated the cost at between $2 and $6 per parcel, with the most likely figure being a flat rate of $5.
US giant eBay said it had "serious concerns over any proposed levy".
“This will hit consumers hard and is not in the spirit of free trade," a spokeswoman said, confirming the company had been consulting with the government.
Retailers reacted with alarm to the idea, which comes on top of the application of GST to all products purchased online from overseas from July 1.
Some 38.7 million parcels worth under $1000 each were imported to Australia last financial year - a 22 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.
On Friday, delivery service providers will call for Border Force-style powers to self-screen packages to avoid passing on costs to consumers. They have already warned the cost of the levy will be passed on to consumers if the Coalition includes it in the May budget.
DHL senior vice president of Oceania, Gary Edstein, said he will ask the Turnbull government to give further security clearances to his staff so that they could conduct biosecurity screenings.
"There has to be a smarter way of doing this, there is a fair amount of doubling up going on," he said.
"Border Force should outsource those activities to industry, we have very tight screening processes for our staff and we would welcome a form of accreditation."
Global Trade Professionals Alliance chief executive Lisa McAuley warned Australian businesses could be harmed by the measure, particularly those trading with Chinese companies and customers.
"It could well result in retaliatory measures that would impact on e-commerce opportunities for Australian companies overseas," she said.
“There is a real threat that if Australia introduces this measure domestically, other countries will reciprocate and that could be very damaging for many small to medium enterprises that have been able to expand into international markets."
The proposal was first canvassed with industry four-years ago but has since been reheated in time for the budget, which will be handed down on May 9.
Asked about the levy on Thursday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the budget was only weeks away.
"So were not going to comment on the budget, I’ll just leave it at that," he said.
Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said the levy proposal "was another new tax from the supposed ‘low tax’ Turnbull government," but Labor has refused to rule out implementing the measure if it wins the next election.
