????SHANGHAI customs has denied wide-spread rumors that it shuts out overseas purchasing agents, or “haiwai daigou,” by detaining international parcels on a gigantic scale, a local newspaper said. ????The clarification came after an online rumor claiming that customs nationwide have detained many international parcels, targeting agents who make a living by selling tax-free foreign goods to Chinese buyers over the Internet and that parcels detained by customs means purchaser should pay tax to get them. ????A netizen posted a photo of piled parcels, with a caption saying they are parcels detained by Shanghai Customs during a single day. Because of this, “their warehouse has been doubled in size.” ????The post was denied by customs, which responded that “We don’t have warehouses especially to store parcels.” “We supervise and impose tax according to relevant rules,” it added. ????Shen, a part-time agent, said she felt the processing speed has become slow since September, while the customs said the speed will be slowed down during shopping season. ????The exact number of those who are engaged in the private business is unknown. Statistics from the Hangzhou-based China E-commerce Research Center show the market for online overseas purchasing agents amounted to 74.4 billion yuan(US$11.7) in 2013.(China News Service) ???? | 