The spring travel season has begun and Belgian officials are reminding arrivals in Belgium that, since Brexit, customs duties and taxes are applicable to goods brought into the country from the UK. Anyone arriving by train from outside the European Union, must declare all goods with a value of over €300, while those coming in by boat or aircraft must do the same with goods worth more than €430.
As Belga news agency notes, it’s worth bearing in mind that the duties and taxes are calculated based on the total value of the goods in question – and that includes any VAT already paid in the UK, making foreign shopping trips potentially more expensive than many travellers think.
Nonetheless, at a press event at Brussels Midi’s Eurostar facility on 6 March 2025, customs administrator general Kristian Vanderwaeren seemed to think spring would put travellers in retail therapy mood, saying, “Shoppers will, of course, quickly reach that amount and must therefore declare their purchases upon their arrival in Brussels.”
Meanwhile, for those who haven’t spent all their money, it’s important to remember that cash amounts of €10,000 or more also necessitates a declaration.
Authorities deem the nudge necessary because currently very few people seem aware of the rules. At both Brussels Airport and the Eurostar terminus there are different arrivals lanes for those with “something” and those with “nothing” to declare, and, according to Vanderwaeren, people “almost always” declare nothing – something that appeared to frustrate him given how long it has been since the UK left the customs union. “We are organising this action to remind people that the regulations for shopping in London are not the same as for Paris,” he said. “Four years after London formally left the EU, a reminder is still necessary.”
Sniffer dogs are part of the detection team at arrival points and if they, or their human colleagues work out that someone has failed to declare purchases or cash, it can be a costly business, resulting in fines in addition to the applicable customs levies.
However there may be a good reason why, as Belga put it, “compliance is low.” Figures from Belgium’s federal fiscal authority, FPS Finance, reveal that just 9,000 people were checked at Midi last year. Considering the rail company carried a total of 19.5 million customers, that means just 0.05% of arrivals were inspected – not a draconian inspection rate, even acknowledging that not all 19.5 million arrivals crossed the Channel.
What’s more, those 9000 checks resulted in the discovery of just 135 violations – meaning just 1% of travellers were found to have broken the rules, whether bringing in undeclared goods, or illegal items such as weapons or drugs.
At the same time as revisiting customs rules, officials at the Brussels press conference took the opportunity to mention the introduction of the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which will be mandatory for all EU arrivals in the UK (except Irish citizens) from April 2025. Online ETA applications are now open. And, for those coming in the other direction, the EU’s own Entry Exit System (EES) is due to launch later in 2025.
