Many Canary Islanders who in recent months have made online purchases through e-commerce sites that use Correos as a shipping operator are finding that their packages are being held at the state-owned company's logistics center for several weeks.
According to sources in the sector, the problem began with the Order of July 29, 2021 of the Government of the Canary Islands, which was intended to simplify the application of the Canary Islands tax on imports for the entry into the islands of goods not exceeding 150 euros, in force since November 15. This order established that, in those cases, "must be declared obligatorily through the simplified declaration procedure H7".
"The delays are caused in parcel companies such as Correos, which have not yet implemented the new customs regulations for low values," Ekonomus was told from the logistics sector.
Other sources that are being affected by these delays explain that "the Customs software is being renewed and there are a large number of packages held for this reason", which is affecting e-commerce in the islands. In the second half of January, Canarias 7 estimated that around 3,000 packages destined for the Canary Islands remained blocked, pending the completion of this procedure.
However, sources from Correos consulted by this media deny the existence of widespread delays and attribute them only to specific incidents.