How many duty free cigarettes from Boat to France ?
Discussion
Just booked a trip back to Holland for next month (via Dover - Dunkerque) and been asked by collegues if i can bring them some dutyfree cigarettes from the boat but can't find anything on the crossings operator (or other operators) websites about how many fags (and booze) im allowed to bring back into the UK.
Anyone knows how much this is, if there's a limit at all ?
Ta
Er ... not to rain on your parade, but as long as Holland is in the EU then there is no such thing as duty free. It doesn't exist.
If you were to travel outside the EU (usa, australia, far east etc etc) then they would be exempt from duty but there is a limit on how many you can buy.
As far as I know there is no actual limit. If you bring back 1000 cigs then that would probably be ok. If you cleaned out a dutch supermarket and brought back 50,000 then there is obviously no way thats just for personal consumption. But as I said i'm not too sure on how that all works.
Of course this could all be rubbish and apologies if it is, but thats how I understand the situation.
If you were to travel outside the EU (usa, australia, far east etc etc) then they would be exempt from duty but there is a limit on how many you can buy.
As far as I know there is no actual limit. If you bring back 1000 cigs then that would probably be ok. If you cleaned out a dutch supermarket and brought back 50,000 then there is obviously no way thats just for personal consumption. But as I said i'm not too sure on how that all works.
Of course this could all be rubbish and apologies if it is, but thats how I understand the situation.
Cheers guys.
I did read this on the websites of one of the boat operators :
"Duty free shopping was abolished within the European Union in 1999. We now offer passengers the opportunity to purchase great value products such as wines, spirits, tobacco, confectionery, gifts and perfume. These are at French duty paid prices and offer great value when compared to prices in the UK."
Though they still call their shop on the boat a duty free shop the last couple times i went on there.
And thanks for the HM customs links, so the cigarettes are for myself and/or a gift. Good to know!
spikeyhead said:
HMRC operate a notional limit of 3200 for personal use. As you're travelling to the Netherlands I'd get them there, probably cheaper than on the boat.
Really ? I thought they'd be cheaper on the boat. Never really bought fags but i'll have a look around at what they cost over here, on the boat and back home in Holland.They will be cheaper to purchase in Holland/Belgium. Make a note on the outbound ferry, then look to see how the price differs on land. They are certainly much cheaper in Belgium (I was there on Tuesday last) and is only a short hop from Dunkerque to the border (Adinkerke, smokers paradise).
Eric Mc said:
No limits - as long as you don't intend to resell.
I hate to do it Eric, but thats not entirely true (in all other subjects i bow to you infinate wisdom!!! 
)3200 maximum, you will probably get a notice 1* if tugged, which is basic guidance on how much booze/fags you can transport. (This also gets recorded incase you make lots of trips) You might be asked to prove you smoke and things get intresting* if you buy multiple brands.
3200 is going to be about 400 notes anyhow...
and DECLARE them if asked! or they will be seized....
Hello Medic-one!
Fellow NHS (Public Health in fact) colleague here!
I wasn't aware that the acute smoking-related blue light calls had become so rare in Essex that boredom was reigning and there was need to stimulate a fresh wave of them.
As it happens I ceased to give a f
k about what people do to themselves some time ago, but some might say that the massive proportion of early preventable deaths which is disproportionally weighted to the poorest people in society isn't exactly helped by NHS workers bringing cheap fags into the UK.
ETA just re-read the original post and have spotted that the fags are intended for the OP's colleagues. Which is of course fine.
Fellow NHS (Public Health in fact) colleague here!
I wasn't aware that the acute smoking-related blue light calls had become so rare in Essex that boredom was reigning and there was need to stimulate a fresh wave of them.
As it happens I ceased to give a f
k about what people do to themselves some time ago, but some might say that the massive proportion of early preventable deaths which is disproportionally weighted to the poorest people in society isn't exactly helped by NHS workers bringing cheap fags into the UK. ETA just re-read the original post and have spotted that the fags are intended for the OP's colleagues. Which is of course fine.
Edited by captainzep on Sunday 24th January 08:12
GingerWizard said:
peterperkins said:
If your not a smoker I would quite like to see the customs man make you smoke a packet of Regal King Size stood at the counter!
just one cigerette is required... even thats not enforcable.....
GingerWizard said:
Eric Mc said:
No limits - as long as you don't intend to resell.
I hate to do it Eric, but thats not entirely true (in all other subjects i bow to you infinate wisdom!!! )3200 maximum, you will probably get a notice 1* if tugged, which is basic guidance on how much booze/fags you can transport. (This also gets recorded incase you make lots of trips) You might be asked to prove you smoke and things get intresting* if you buy multiple brands.
3200 is going to be about 400 notes anyhow...
and DECLARE them if asked! or they will be seized....
There are no limits, provided you can prove they are for personal consumption. Which is a risky proposition by all accounts.
3,200 cigs in the UK would be in excess of £900, so a £500 saving is some motivation.
I have heard of customs asking people stopped for possessing 'too many packets of tobacco' to roll a cigarette. Don't know how true it is though.
I was once stopped at customs and, they kept me there for some time (perhaps an hour). Obviously, they could do nothing as I only had slightly over what they prescribe as 'recommended'. But they did say that I could not smoke whilst there.
I was once stopped at customs and, they kept me there for some time (perhaps an hour). Obviously, they could do nothing as I only had slightly over what they prescribe as 'recommended'. But they did say that I could not smoke whilst there.
.Subject to the provisions of the Order a Community traveller entering a control zone or the United Kingdom shall be relieved from payment or any duty of excise on excise goods which he has obtained for his own use in the course of cross-border shopping and which he has transported.
"own use" includes use as a personal gift provided that if the person making the gift receives in consequence any money or money's worth (including any reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with obtaining the goods in question) his use shall not be regarded as own use for the purpose of this Order."
In answer to the OP, as Eric Mc correctly stated there are no limits for a person’s/traveller’s own personal use, although the UK’s GUIDELINES for cigarettes are 3200, BUT in France, Spain Belgium and other EU member states the GUIDELINES is 800 cigarettes. The French, having considerably increased the price of tobacco products, and to stop it’s citizens from driving to France, Spain or Luxembourg for supplies, have imposed it’s own law restricting the transportation of any more than 200 cigarettes.
Personal use includes the gifting of cigarettes, but the gift must not be for exchange of cash, or payment in kind, for example to say that you were gifting 2000 cigarettes to Eric Mc because he does your accounts, would result in both the cigarettes and the car/vehicle transporting the cigarettes from being seized.
HMR&C adopt a zero tolerance on the smuggling of excise goods into the UK, and now under the UKBA, both the collection of data, profiling of travellers and information from other HMG agencies, means they are really on the ball.
"own use" includes use as a personal gift provided that if the person making the gift receives in consequence any money or money's worth (including any reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with obtaining the goods in question) his use shall not be regarded as own use for the purpose of this Order."
In answer to the OP, as Eric Mc correctly stated there are no limits for a person’s/traveller’s own personal use, although the UK’s GUIDELINES for cigarettes are 3200, BUT in France, Spain Belgium and other EU member states the GUIDELINES is 800 cigarettes. The French, having considerably increased the price of tobacco products, and to stop it’s citizens from driving to France, Spain or Luxembourg for supplies, have imposed it’s own law restricting the transportation of any more than 200 cigarettes.
Personal use includes the gifting of cigarettes, but the gift must not be for exchange of cash, or payment in kind, for example to say that you were gifting 2000 cigarettes to Eric Mc because he does your accounts, would result in both the cigarettes and the car/vehicle transporting the cigarettes from being seized.
HMR&C adopt a zero tolerance on the smuggling of excise goods into the UK, and now under the UKBA, both the collection of data, profiling of travellers and information from other HMG agencies, means they are really on the ball.
Edited by Wings on Sunday 24th January 23:16
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