• Zurich Airport is struggling with a massive flood of parcels from China that is delaying handling.
• Swiss retailers are calling for stricter rules for foreign online platforms.
• Despite initial measures, new providers such as the TikTok store are threatening to further exacerbate the situation.

Around 100,000 parcels from online retailers such as Temu and Shein arrive at Zurich Airport every day - a sheer volume that is increasingly paralyzing customs clearance.

According to a recent logistics market study, most of these small consignments below the duty-free threshold land directly in Kloten. As a result, the infrastructure is overloaded and freight forwarders are reporting massive delays in the delivery of important goods such as medicines and machine parts.

“Shipments from China are often inadequately declared, which makes handling extremely difficult,” criticizes Tom Odermatt from the Spedlogsuisse association to theSonntagszeitungnewspaper. Large customers such as Temu also determine which freight is unloaded first - smaller deliveries fall by the wayside and are sometimes delayed by a week. Some of these shipments include important consignments such as medicines or machine parts, the newspaper writes.

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There were already bottlenecks in the supply of medicines last Christmas due to the flood of parcels. Now experts fear a further escalation: following the introduction of new US tariffs on Chinese goods , even more cheap goods could be diverted to Switzerland. The trend is reinforced by the planned launch of a TikTok store in Switzerland.

The retail trade is sounding the alarm: the Swiss Retail Federation is calling for a “level playing field” for all suppliers. “Temu and Co. do not comply with Swiss safety or environmental standards,” says Director Dagmar Jenni. Consumer protection organizations also criticize the aggressive advertising methods of Chinese platforms.

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