Russia is considering restricting imports from foreign online retailers, joining an increasing number of countries looking into measures to protect local operators.
The government is looking at a 30% tax on imports worth more than 7,000 roubles (£123) as well as restrictions on the number of parcels imported, possibly via limits on delivery services such as DHL or UPS. Such firms could be restricted to five business-to-consumer imports a day, according to the Retail Insider blog.
Such restrictions could constrain the plans of retailers such as ASOS, Next and Net-a-Porter, which see Russia as a growth area and have local language sites.
Moscow's move follows new controls on foreign online retailers in Argentina, which wants to limit the number of purchases residents can make from international sites to two a year without a large amount of paperwork.
The government in Australia, where online purchases from international sites worth less than A$1,000 (£527) are not subject to the local equivalent of VAT, is also under pressure to clamp down.
Its tax regime and buoyant economy has made the country a fast-growing market for UK retailers such as ASOS and Next. But, as online sales have risen from A$6bn in 2007 to A$10bn in 2012 – with 75% going to foreign players – politicians are under pressure to make changes from local retailers who are feeling the squeeze.
The controls echo discussions about taxation of large international retailers such as Amazon and eBay, but are also driven by countries' struggling to deal with the soaring number of small parcels flowing through customs as online retail takes off.
"There is an issue there for British retailers as different countries are concerned about their own retail industry. The advent of the internet means consumers expect to buy globally and that is going to be a problem," said Maureen Hinton, an analyst at Conlumino.
Industry insiders said the effect on UK businesses would depend on the detail of the restrictions imposed. An import tax on goods worth more than 7,000 roubles in Russia, for example, is unlikely to affect retailers such as ASOS, whose average purchase are below amount, but could have an impact on luxury goods e-tailers.
Australia is unlikely to lower its limit on tax-free imports substantially as the costs of checking all low-value goods could outweigh the amount of tax raised.