EC takes legal steps against Customs

Customs and Excise may be breaking European Union rules by stopping people bringing alcohol and cigarettes into Britain, the Government has been warned.

The European Commission is taking the first legal steps against the Government after an investigation into "heavy-handed" Customs officers.

Although there are no restrictions on the amount of alcohol people can bring into the UK, Customs and Excise officers can still block imports they believe are not for personal use.

European guidelines recommend limits of 90 litres of table wine, 110 litres of beer and 10 litres of spirits, but Customs officers are accused of being over-zealous in enforcing these.

"People have the right to buy as many goods in another country as they like, as long as it's for their own, non-commercial use," Jonathan Todd, a spokesman for the EC, said.

But he admitted it was up to officers to decide whether a person was planning to sell the goods illegally.

The EC has written to the UK Government and if it does not get a satisfactory response on the issue it could ultimately take legal action.

Smuggling is estimated to cost the pub trade £150m every year and research suggests the UK's high rate of duty compared with nearby France, is to blame.

Customs and Excise minister Paul Boateng, however, has said the Government has no intention of cutting duty, preferring to concentrate on stamping out smuggling at ports - an approach that could now be under threat.

Related news:​

Bootlegging clampdown hit by legal block (04 October 2001)

EU plans to close duty gap (27 September 2001)

Customs hits trade in Calais (30 August 2001)

Customs continues to clamp down on "booze cruisers" (31 July 2001)

Boateng rules out cut in duty (6 July 2001)

New strategy to tackle bootlegging (29 June 2001)