Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring UK-facing online marketplaces to warn consumers before accepting payment that orders fulfilled from EU countries may be subject to (a) customs charges, (b) import VAT and (c) increased courier handling charges; and if he will ensure that those charges are made clear to the consumer at the point of order.

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 requires traders to provide information on the total price of goods or services, inclusive of any applicable or additional taxes or delivery charges, at the point of sale. Where the total price of the goods or services, including any additional taxes or delivery charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, such as cross-border transactions, the manner in which the price is to be calculated must instead be communicated. This information must be given to the consumer in a clear and comprehensible manner, along with the right to cancel if this exists.

Any information that the trader gives the consumer as required by these requirements are to be treated as included as a term of the contract. Changes to any of this information, made before entering into the contract or later, are not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader.