To comply with European law, France had to remove the limit of 200 cigarettes, or one carton, that a smoker was authorized to bring back from another EU country, according to a decree published Friday in the Journal official.
We have completely changed the logic, we no longer rely at all on volume and cartridge logic. Customs officers now have the possibility of relying on a range of clues, of seizing and sanctioning those for whom there is a presumption of trade and therefore of illegal trade, indicated the Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave during a press briefing.
Until now, individuals of legal age traveling to an EU country were allowed to bring back 200 cigarettes (1 carton), 50 cigars, 250 grams of smoking tobacco, and 100 cigarillos.
But noting that European regulations set higher thresholds for personal consumption, an individual, himself a tobacco consumer, contacted the Council of State.
At the end of September, the Council of State then ordered the government to bring French law into line with EU law, either by refraining from setting thresholds or by setting thresholds consistent with European regulations.
European regulations set personal consumption at 800 cigarettes (4 cartridges), 400 cigarillos, 200 cigars and 1 kg of smoking tobacco.
In the decree, which comes into force on Friday, the government has chosen not to set a threshold.
We have succeeded in finding this new regulatory framework which allows us to be more efficient, today, if customs found that a person was transporting a single cartridge but with the name of the recipient and the address of the delivery which they must be made, it would fall within the scope of the decree, indicated the minister.
We are moving from a logic of quantity to a logic of purpose: whatever the threshold, if it is for resale, it is not good, summarized the ministerial services.
The decree thus strengthens the criteria allowing customs officers to assess whether the person transporting cigarettes purchased them for their own needs.
In particular, the holder’s destination will be taken into account when it differs from his usual place of residence, the holder’s economic activity or the location of the products in the vehicle.
Bercy is also carrying out a project to harmonize tobacco taxation at the European level, according to the minister.