Swiss Post this week announced the end of customs inspection fees and revised parcel prices for 2018.
The Swiss postal operator said it has signed a new mutual agreement with the country’s price regulator, which includes modifications to prices and product ranges as well as price advantages and simplifications for customers from 1 January 2018.
As part of these measures, Swiss Post will dispense with customs inspection fees and adjust the price and weight categories for domestic parcels in 2018. The prices for A and B letter mail will however remain unchanged next year.
On the abolition of customs inspection fees, Swiss Post explained that it performs customs clearance for goods consignments from abroad on behalf of the Swiss Federal Customs Administration (FCA). The FCA has the ability to order spot checks of consignments it specifies (customs inspection).
For the expenses incurred for this, Swiss Post currently charges the recipient a fee of CHF 13. The current solution is not satisfactory, as initiatives and discussions in the National Council and Council of States have shown. For this reason, Swiss Post has agreed to dispense with the customs inspection fee of CHF 13 in the new year and to bear the costs for the inspection of consignments itself.
In addition, there will be new price and weight categories for domestic parcels. The existing price and weight categories will be reduced to from five to three. The prices for parcels weighing up to 2 kg, which account for around 85% of all parcels transported by Swiss Post, will remain unchanged. There will be slight price adjustments only for parcels weighing over 2 kg, depending on weight category.
Moreover, value-added services for private domestic parcels will be reintroduced. The “Fragile” and “Assurance” value-added services will be reintroduced for domestic parcels due to rising demand from online orders. For fragile (“Fragile”) or particularly valuable (“Assurance”) consignments, Swiss Post is liable for a maximum value of CHF 5,000 in the event of loss or damage.
There will also be an online price discount for parcels. In 2018, private customers who create the labels for domestic parcels via Login Swiss Post will receive a discount per parcel ranging from CHF 0.50 to CHF 3, depending on weight category. In addition, there will be a price reduction for mail order returns of CHF 0.50 for private customers in 2018.
Finally, for a period of around one month before Christmas, Swiss Post will grant a one franc discount for all domestic private customer parcels.
Swiss Post said it has also made a conscious decision not to raise prices for A and B letter mail for the coming year. The prices for these two services have remained the same since 2004. Swiss Post will resume the pricing discussion for the year 2019. However, at present no decisions have been taken concerning the extent of any price modifications.
