Issuing Body: Guozun Cathay Associates, French Office
Case Closure Date: 18 July 2026
Key Outcome: The dispute was resolved through full non-litigious settlement. La Poste fully revoked the excessive supplementary freight bill, and all high-value parcels involved were released from detention and delivered normally, avoiding significant financial losses and cross-border breach of contract risks for the domestic cross-border export enterprise.
This case was handled jointly by the Paris office of Guozun Cathay Associates in France and the cross-border transport dispute team of the Beijing Headquarters. Leveraging the resources of legal practitioners qualified in both Chinese and French jurisdictions, the international postal rules of the Universal Postal Union, and the transport commercial legal systems of China and France, the team has developed a cross-border logistics dispute resolution model featuring “domestic evidence closure and solidification + local French legal liaison + tiered regulatory appeal and pressure exertion”.
This case has been included in Guozun Cathay Associates’ 2026 Typical Case Database of China-EU Cross-Border Logistics, providing a standardised reference path for cross-border e-commerce and foreign trade export enterprises targeting the European market to handle disputes such as unilateral price increases by overseas postal services and detention of goods.
I. Case Background and Engagement Process
The client is a domestic cross-border trader with deep roots in the European market, which has long sent batches of high-value consumer goods to EU countries including France, Belgium and Germany via La Poste channels. During the long-term cooperation, the client has truthfully declared the weight and outer packaging dimensions of parcels in accordance with the publicly announced postal billing standards, and paid full postage in advance at the domestic originating warehouse. There have been no declaration abnormalities in customs clearance and delivery over the years.
In February 2026, after a batch of parcels from the client arrived at the sorting centre in mainland France, the automated scanning system of La Poste generated secondary measurement data, unilaterally determining that there was a significant deviation between the volumetric weight of the entire batch of parcels and the values declared by the client. It directly issued a high-value supplementary freight payment notice and explicitly informed the client that all parcels involved would be permanently detained and not subject to customs clearance and delivery until the full difference was paid.
If the freight was paid in accordance with the unilateral bill issued by the French side, the client would incur hundreds of thousands of yuan in additional expenses. Meanwhile, the long-term detention of goods in EU sorting warehouses would lead to widespread delays in end-customer orders overseas, triggering cascading commercial risks such as batch claims, negative store reviews and termination of channel cooperation. The client attempted to communicate with La Poste independently via email and online customer service, but constrained by French language barriers, unfamiliarity with French postal regulatory rules and lack of complete legal evidence support, multiple negotiations were prevaricated by frontline customer service staff. The French side insisted on only accepting the scanning data of local sorting equipment and refused to review the original domestic measurement records.
On 8 March 2026, the client formally engaged the Beijing Headquarters of Guozun Cathay Associates to coordinate with the Paris office in France, launching a joint China-France special legal service to fully represent the client in handling freight objections and goods detention disputes with La Poste. The claims were to revoke the unreasonable excessive freight, release all detained parcels, and only bear normal logistics costs within the scope of compliance.
II. Full Process of Collaborative Case Handling by Dual Offices in China and France
This case adopted a collaborative handling mechanism where the Beijing Headquarters is responsible for domestic evidence fixation, Chinese law legal argumentation, and overall coordination of bilingual legal documents; the Paris office in France is responsible for liaising with La Poste’s legal department, local regulatory authorities, and multiple rounds of offline and online negotiations. The entire process was documented and implemented in phases:
1.8 March 2026 – 15 March 2026: Dual-Jurisdiction Legal Risk Assessment and Comprehensive Evidence Chain Collation
The cross-border logistics legal team of the Beijing Headquarters retrieved and verified all original materials of the parcels involved: full weighing videos from the domestic originating warehouse, archived videos of manual three-dimensional dimension measurement, customs declaration forms, prepaid postage payment vouchers, and records of no objections to shipments through the same channel over the years. By comparing the scanning parameters of the French system item by item, the team identified that the root cause of the dispute was the algorithmic identification deviation of the French automated sorting equipment for irregularly shaped and soft-packaged parcels, and there was no under-declaration or concealment of dimensions and weight by the client. The team issued the Assessment Report on the Compliance of the Shipper’s Declaration under Chinese Law.
Meanwhile, local practising lawyers at the French Paris office completed research on La Poste’s commercial contracts, French transport regulatory laws and regulations, and the rules of the Universal Postal Convention. They predicted that the French side’s acts of detaining goods and unilaterally increasing prices had legal flaws, sorted out information on La Poste’s regulatory appeal channels and competent consumer rights protection authorities, and formulated a phased negotiation and pressure exertion plan.
2.16 March 2026 – 28 March 2026: Drafting and Targeted Service of Bilingual (French-English) Objection Letter
Chinese and French lawyers jointly drafted the Bilingual (French + English) Letter of Objection to Parcel Volumetric Weight Billing and Legal Risk Warning. Abandoning the form of ordinary customer consultation emails, the letter was directly sent to the customer complaint centre, legal and compliance department of La Poste headquarters, and EU cross-border transport authorities, with a full set of evidentiary materials attached, including original domestic measurement videos, weighing documents and customs declaration documents. The letter also listed the compliance loopholes of the French side’s unilateral price increase and goods seizure under the French Civil Code and the Universal Postal Union Convention, and gave advance warning of two rights protection paths: regulatory appeal and commercial claim.
3.18 April 2026 – 12 May 2026: First Two Rounds of Online Dedicated Negotiations to Consolidate Factual and Regulatory Leverage
On 18 April 2026, La Poste’s legal department issued its first formal reply with a tough stance, insisting on using local automated scanning data as the sole basis for billing and refusing manual review of original goods parameters.
Lawyers from the French office immediately organised the first round of cross-border online talks. Combined with French logistics industry precedents, they pointed out that automated sorting equipment has recognised measurement error defects for irregularly shaped packaging. Meanwhile, they cited the shipper’s right to refuse unreasonable price increases under the Civil Code and the principle of good faith in the French Civil Code to refute the French side’s unilateral change of freight. On 12 May 2026, the second round of in-depth online negotiations was held. Our team fully calculated the overseas customer liquidated damages, warehouse demurrage losses and store operation losses caused by the detention of goods, and clearly disclosed the huge civil compensation risks to the French side. At the same time, we explicitly stated that if the French side continued to refuse reasonable review and negotiation, the Guozun team would, on behalf of the client, simultaneously submit formal written appeals to the Universal Postal Union and the French Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), and initiate preliminary procedures for local commercial claims in France.
4.5 June 2026: Third Round of Negotiations – Substantive Concessions from the French Side
After two rounds of dual pressure at the legal and regulatory levels, La Poste completed internal consultations between its legal and operation departments, and its negotiation stance underwent a major shift. In the third round of online communication, the French side proactively proposed on-site manual verification of the physical dimensions and weight of the entire batch of parcels, and agreed to waive all overdue late fees, only charging a small basic manual verification service fee. It no longer insisted on the original high-value supplementary bill, but a complete written settlement plan had not yet been reached.
5.18 July 2026: Final Round of Negotiations Reaches Comprehensive Settlement and Case Closure
The joint China-France legal team participated in the fourth and final round of negotiations and finalised the complete settlement terms: La Poste issued a written confirmation letter affixed with its official seal, fully revoking all excessive supplementary freight bills previously issued; staff conducted on-site manual verification of the parcels’ physical condition, and only charged a small basic operation service fee matching the actual weight and dimensions; all detained parcels were released from detention and arranged for customs clearance and delivery on the same day. After the client confirmed that the goods were in normal circulation and there was no additional large expenditure, the case was successfully concluded in a non-litigious manner, lasting 4 months in total.
6.Post-Closure Supporting Risk Control Plan
After the case was closed, the joint China-France case handling team delivered the complete Case Closure Review Report and Handbook on Evidence Retention and Freight Dispute Prevention for China-EU Cross-Border Postal Shipments to the client, and put forward three practical risk control recommendations for the enterprise’s subsequent European cross-border logistics business.
III. Key Case Handling Difficulties and Standardised China-France Collaborative Solutions
The pain points of this case are common disputes frequently encountered by domestic foreign trade enterprises shipping to EU postal channels. Relying on the dual-jurisdiction advantages of Guozun’s offices in China and France, a replicable solution has been formed:
1.Difficulties in Allocation of Burden of Proof for Cross-Border Logistics Volumetric Weight Disputes and Determination of Cross-Border Evidence Validity
Professional Basis: Transport contract provisions of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, uniform rules for parcel transport of the Universal Postal Union, and commercial carrier specifications of La Poste
Solution: On the domestic side, complete original evidence integrating videos, paper documents and payment vouchers shall be retained, and the Beijing Headquarters shall complete evidence solidification and archiving. When local French lawyers liaise with the French legal department, they directly submit a full set of visual original measurement materials, shifting the burden of proof to the carrier, proving that the carrier’s unilateral equipment data cannot be used as the sole basis for billing and goods detention, and breaking the strong unilateral rule of overseas postal services that “local system data shall prevail”.
2.Cross-Border Language Barriers and Prevarication by Frontline Customer Service, Hindering Access to Senior Legal Departments of the French Side
Professional Basis: Hierarchical complaint handling mechanism for French enterprises, EU cross-border consumer rights protection communication specifications
Solution: Local practising lawyers in Paris, France shall issue formal French legal instruments and directly deliver them to the enterprise’s legal and compliance departments, skipping the ordinary frontline customer service level. Relying on the industry resources of local lawyers, senior management personnel of La Poste can be quickly reached, greatly improving the priority of dispute handling and avoiding enterprises falling into endless prevarication in independent communication.
3.Detention of Goods and Unilateral Price Increases by Overseas Carriers, and Lack of Low-Cost Rights Protection Channels for Enterprises
Professional Basis: The binding force of contracts and the principle of good faith under the French Civil Code, French competition and consumer supervision laws and regulations, Article 813 of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China
Solution: Construct a three-tier pressure strategy of “negotiation first, regulatory appeal as backup, commercial claims as the last resort”. During the negotiation stage, the alternative plan of regulatory appeal shall be announced simultaneously. By leveraging the compliance supervision pressure of French local regulatory authorities on large postal enterprises, the other party is forced to take the initiative to make concessions. No cross-border litigation is initiated throughout the process, which greatly saves enterprises’ time and litigation costs, and quickly releases detained goods to ensure the performance of foreign trade orders.
IV. Core Legal Basis Applied in This Case
A. Laws Applicable in Mainland China
1.Article 813 of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China: Passengers, shippers or consignees shall pay the ticket fare or transport fee. Where a carrier increases the ticket fare or transport fee by failing to transport goods via the agreed route or the usual route, the passenger, shipper or consignee may refuse to pay the increased portion of the ticket fare or transport fee.
2.Article 509 of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China: The parties shall fully perform their respective obligations in accordance with the contract, and abide by the principle of good faith.
B. Local French Laws
1.Article 1103 of the French Civil Code: A lawfully formed contract has binding legal force on the contracting parties, and the carrier shall not unilaterally change the billing standard.
2.Article 1104 of the French Civil Code: The negotiation, conclusion and performance of a contract must follow the principle of good faith, and the carrier shall not use its dominant position to unilaterally impose additional payment obligations on the shipper.
3.French Laws and Regulations on Consumption and Competition: Large public logistics enterprises shall not detain shippers’ goods without reasonable grounds, nor unilaterally impose additional freight solely based on their own internal equipment data.
C. International Postal Convention Rules
Universal Postal Union Convention on Parcel Post: Postal carriers of member states shall accept the original weighing and dimension records of originating stations in the country of origin. Automated equipment measurement data may only be used as auxiliary reference, and in case of errors, the results of on-site manual verification shall prevail.
V. Practical Risk Control Advice for China-EU Cross-Border Trading Enterprises
Combined with the practical experience of Guozun’s French office in handling multiple logistics disputes with La Poste and EU cross-border logistics, three practical compliance recommendations are put forward for cross-border e-commerce and foreign trade enterprises mainly exporting to Europe:
1.Standardised Retention of Shipment Evidence
For each batch of postal parcels exported to the EU, simultaneously record complete videos of weighing and dimension measurement at the originating warehouse, file paper customs declaration forms, logistics waybills and payment vouchers by category, and regularly back up and solidify electronic evidence. For irregularly shaped, soft-packaged and light-bulky goods, additionally retain actual photos of the outer packaging to respond to freight disputes caused by identification errors of overseas sorting equipment.
2.Timely Rights Protection for Overseas Logistics Disputes
In case of unilateral price increases or goods detention by EU postal services, do not rely solely on online customer service email communication. It is recommended to engage a foreign-related law firm with local offices within one month of goods detention. The longer the delay, the greater the continuous expansion of warehouse demurrage and order breach losses. Meanwhile, carriers are prone to destroy original scanning records, increasing the difficulty of proof.
3.Proactive Optimisation of Dispute Clauses in Cross-Border Logistics Contracts
When signing contracts with freight forwarders and postal channels, explicitly specify the verification standards for volumetric weight disputes in writing, and agree that “original measurement data from the originating warehouse shall take precedence over overseas automated scanning data”. At the same time, list the liability for breach of contract and compensation corresponding to the carrier’s unjustified detention of goods and unilateral price increases, so as to lock in the basis for the enterprise’s rights protection and claims in advance.