FAQ

Yes, if you are a postal service provider responsible for the delivery (A) of parcels (B) in Belgium (C) by couriers (D).

The law applies to you if all 4 criteria A, B, C and D are met.
It does not apply if at least one of these criteria is not met.

The delivery (A) of a parcel, also known as ‘last-mile delivery’, is the phase from sorting at the distribution centre to delivery of the parcels to the recipient. This includes preparing the route, loading the parcels onto the vehicle, transporting them and delivering them to the specified address. The company sending the parcel does not deliver the parcel itself. (For more information, see point 3 What does ‘self-delivery’ mean?).

The parcel (B) is a parcel delivery:

• with a delivery address,
• that weighs a maximum of 31.5 kg,
• which contains permitted goods with or without commercial value (no correspondence),
• with closed packaging.

In Belgium (C), the law applies to companies

• that deliver parcels in Belgium, even if the delivery has started in another country;
• that deliver parcels which are distributed from Belgium and are destined for abroad.

Couriers (D) are natural persons who deliver parcels for a postal service provider or one of its subcontractors, regardless of their professional status. This law therefore applies to couriers who are employees (including students whose curriculum provides for employment), self-employed or self-employed assistants.

Self-delivery is not covered by the Parcel Delivery Act. Companies operate ‘self-delivery' if they exclusively deliver their own goods via their own network. In other words, via their own infrastructure and their own employees or temporary workers.

Please note: A company which, in addition to delivering goods via its own network, also delivers goods from third parties is subject to this law.

No, if you are an entrepreneur who sells products via an online shop and uses external suppliers for delivery, you do not fall within the scope of this law.

Please note: This legislation applies well to the postal service providers who carry out the delivery for you.

No, if you are an entrepreneur and you sell your own products via an online shop and deliver them to your customers yourself, you are not subject to this law.

Please note: This only applies if you as a company only deliver your own products and do not deliver parcels for third parties.

No, if you as a food business or restaurant deliver your own food, ready-to-eat meals or partially prepared meals, this law does not apply to you as it falls under the ‘self-delivery‘ exemption.

If, as a food business, you do not deliver yourself but instead commission a network of subcontractors, this law does not apply to you either.

Note: This law does well apply to subcontractors who deliver for you.

If you, as a pharmaceutical company, commission subcontractors who deliver for you, this legislation does not apply to your pharmaceutical company.

Subcontractors are subject to this legislation as they provide postal services on behalf of third parties.

You have your own parcel distribution network and your own staff to deliver your own goods and you also deliver parcels from other companies? If so, you are subject to this legislation for all your parcel deliveries (i.e. both your own parcels and those of other companies).

You have your own distribution network for parcels and your own staff to deliver your own goods. You only deliver your own products. You do not deliver products from third parties. In this case, you are not subject to this law.

To become a coordinator, you need at least one year of experience in the postal sector. The postal sector includes companies that provide postal services as defined in the Act of 26 January 2018 on postal services. These postal services include:

• collection
• sorting
• transport
• delivery of postal items

This law does not apply to postal services provided by a company that is itself the sender of the postal item (in this case it is referred to as self-delivery).

Persons with similar functions, such as transport managers or prevention advisors, also fulfil the criteria required for appointment as a coordinator. People in positions that require a certain level of safety management and responsibility, such as transport planners, fleet managers or operations managers, can also be appointed as coordinators.

Postal service providers and their subcontractors are free to appoint an internal or external coordinator.

The coordinator plays an important role. He is required to clearly inform the parcel delivery workers of their rights and obligations as set out in the Postal Act. This should be done as follows:

• at the beginning of the contract
• every year
• if requested by a parcel delivery worker

The coordinator is also required to draw up a due diligence plan and review it annually. This plan includes:

• a description of the company structure: the chain of subsidiaries, subcontractors and suppliers
• a risk analysis of possible violations of the law of 26 January 2018 on postal services as well as the labour and social security law
• measures to deal with these risks

You provide the name and contact details of the coordinator via My BELparcel.
This is done as part of the half-yearly reporting obligation. You prepare your first report on the activities of the previous half year by 31 January 2025 at the latest.

In addition, the name and contact details of the coordinator must be easily accessible to your parcel delivery workers at all times.

Yes, it is the company that employs the temporary workers - not the interim office - that is responsible for the timekeeping of the parcel delivery people.

On the BELparcel online service, you designate temporary workers with the status "employee".

Yes, you must perform daily timekeeping for your employees/parcel delivery people in this case. In fact, all parcel delivery service providers are required to perform timekeeping.

On the BELparcel online service, you do these registrations in the capacity of "subcontractor" and leave the "contractor" zone blank.

Yes, in that case the parcel distribution time of the parcel deliverer must be registered. The time to be registered is from the start time of transportation for the parcels covered by the legislation until the time the transportation for those parcels stops. Thus, there is no exemption for mixed transport.

Separate timekeeping must be done for the package delivery person for each client. If the parcel delivery person leaves with packages for all clients at the same time and from the same location, then the start details will be identical. The end time and end location of registration can logically vary from one client to another.

Only one time recording per day per contractor needs to be performed.

No. If the tachograph requirement applies, then the requirement to register parcel distribution times does not apply.

No, if your own systems meet the legal requirements then you may implement the requirement for registering parcel distribution times in the currently ongoing, first phase with your own systems.