Remember we reported on the Breakfast Show some weeks back that HMRC has changed the 'allowances' for tobacco. Often referred to as Duty Free it isn't technically correct. The duty has been paid in the country of purchase if in the EU. The word allowances is not strictly true. To quote their own website "there is no limit on alcohol and tobacco brought from another EU country". Before last October they said that you could enter Britain with 3200 cigarettes and 3kg tobaccowith no questions asked. There was no change to the alcohol recommendations. From 1st October they were saying only 800 cigarettes OR 1kg tobacco. This effectively made it more inconvenient (and expensive) to keep crossing the channel to bring back these amounts. However, read the small print and interpret it as it is. There is NO limit, it's just a question of whether or not you can prove that it's for your own use or a gift. They can confiscate any amount if they have reason to suspect that it's for commercial purposes - in other words you're selling it on. Yesterday was a very successful day. The trip went really well with light traffic and no delays. At Adinkerke I purchased double the recommended cigarettes expecting to be challenged. I had prepared my defence and was all set at Customs when asked about my purchases.
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