this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2025
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  • 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.

[...]

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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[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago

Sounds like a lot of this problem is down to the airport or whoever manages that itself. So unlike everyone else here simply hating Temu, if they make deals with them that result in other packages getting delayed.. that is not Temus fault. Upgrade your operations, prioritize medicine more than Temu.

[–] abbadon420@lemm.ee 17 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

It is high time that we start banning these kids of low quality (no quality), cheap imports

That or fine them for every single minute they make everything else important late. Should sort itself out.

[–] cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 day ago

DoS attack in real life

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 5 points 19 hours ago

Add it to the endless list of reasons to ban these platforms.

Time to remove de minimus.

[–] kokolowlander@lemm.ee 5 points 23 hours ago

Are they exploiting de minimis shipping in Switzerland as well?

[–] tal@lemmy.today 5 points 23 hours ago

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.

β€œShipments from China are often inadequately declared, which makes handling extremely difficult,” criticizes Tom Odermatt from the Spedlogsuisse association to theSonntagszeitungnewspaper.

Hmm.

Would this, perchance, coincide with a dramatic increase in the import of Swiss goods by the US?

[–] A_norny_mousse 4 points 23 hours ago

Online shopping itself is crazy, but not completely avoidable anymore. I'm always shocked at the amount of cardboard & styrox I'm left with.

Are those products really shipped online order by online order, all the way from China? That would be beyond crazy!

Also, is the Zurich airport a hub for traffic from China, or would this apply to every large international airport?

And lastly, does that mean the medicine also comes from China or even Temu?