Customs duties and tax due on Chinese e-bikes declared as ordinary bicycles may be passed on to carriers, because the importing companies no longer operate. EU budget losses are estimated at 125 million euros.
What was established about the Chinese bicycles
According to findings by journalists of the podcast „W związku ze śledztwem” („In Connection with the Investigation”), in 2021–2022 containers of bicycles declared as ordinary, although they were supposed to be electric bicycles, travelled through Poland. E-bikes from China are subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duties in the EU, which reach around 80 percent of the price.
According to these findings, the companies responsible for the imports no longer conduct business. The tax administration is therefore directing claims at carriers, who maintain that they collected sealed containers. The amounts involved may reach millions of zloty.
How the scheme worked
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) described similar mechanisms in a statement of 28 April. Goods entered the EU under the T1 transit procedure as destined for other Member States, but in reality remained in Poland. OLAF passed information to the investigation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Poland.
The office estimated that the entire described scheme, covering textiles, footwear, e-bikes and other goods, resulted in the evasion of about 118 million euros in customs duties and 79 million euros in VAT. In the case of the bicycles, OLAF also pointed to fictitious importers who were supposed to avoid liability for customs debt, and to the misuse of customs procedure 42, which allows VAT to be deferred.
Poland as an entry point
This is not the first e-bike case with a Polish thread. In February 2024, OLAF and the Polish customs service seized 20,000 bicycles from China in warehouses in Poland. It was initially estimated that at least 8 million euros in anti-dumping duties and 4 million euros in VAT had been evaded. In turn, in February 2025 the EPPO reported at least 25 containers smuggled into the EU via Poland and losses of about 1.8 million euros.
A threat to rail companies
According to reports of a warning from the Office of Rail Transport (UTK), Polish rail carriers may go bankrupt because of customs debts on containers from China. Customs authorities treat them as jointly liable for duties on goods that others understated or misdeclared. For a single container, the amounts are reportedly to exceed 367,000 zloty in duties and 163,000 zloty in VAT. The operation of the dry port in Małaszewicze is said to be at risk.
As of publication, no statement from the National Revenue Administration (KAS) on the amount of claims against carriers could be found.
