Thursday, June 15, 2006
Cigarette smuggler caught in act
The BBC reports that "A serial cigarette smuggler from Doncaster was caught as he tried to bring 25,000 cigarettes and 800g of tobacco into the UK from Tenerife." With prices such as we have here - the cigarettes I buy have just gone up to 10 Euros (about $6.50) per CARTON of 200 - it is a wonder there are not daily reports of these cigarette runs to the UK, given UK prices.
However, what the report doesn't make clear is that the smuggler's defence (excuse) claim - he told officers he had flown to Tenerife purposely to bring back cigarettes for himself and his family - would not have held up. Whilst it may be legal to do this coming back to the UK from mainland Europe (and I've done the Calais shopping trip myself in the past), the Canary Islands, obviously including Tenerife, are NOT part of the EU for Customs and Excise purposes.
Because of the islands' special tax status, there are no duties here and, as far as your duty free allowances go, you are only allowed the amounts normally allowed for coming from countries OUTSIDE of the European Union.
HM Customs & Excise confirm this, see: Travelling to the UK from outside the European Union (EU), which states what you are allowed to take into the UK, when travelling from a non-EU country (including the Canary Islands, the Channel islands and Gibraltar) and, as far as tobacco goes, you are only allowed 200 cigarettes (one carton) for your own use. Whilst the savings may be great, the saving on one carton does not justify the price of a flight.
Cigarette smuggler caught in act
