Trade fears increased alcohol smuggling after ruling

Licensees fear a new wave of alcohol smuggling could hit trade following a European Commission (EC) ruling on cross-channel shopping.

The EC has forced the government to climb down on tough sentences introduced for people caught bringing cheap booze into the UK for friends and family, because it says their treatment in the past has been "over-zealous".

The Commission is now taking the UK to the European Court of Justice which will mean that first-time offenders who import goods for no profit will no longer have their cars seized.

Although this will protect innocent shoppers, it could provide a loophole for organised gangs of illegal smugglers and ultimately increase the amount of cheap booze flooding into the UK, warns the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII).

John McNamara, chief executive at the BII, said: "We're not against people going to France and stocking up for Christmas.

"What concerns us is that we have conducted two major reports in the last two years that show alcohol is being brought back and sold on street corners where it can get into the hands of schoolchildren. This is what we want to stop.

"No doubt this relaxation in the law will also lead to an increase in smuggling because smugglers will think they are more likely to get away with bringing in alcohol."

The BII's smuggling report 2002 found that £1bn a year is lost in taxes to smugglers - representing a cost of £12,000 a year for the average pub in lost trade.

Quentin Rappoport, director of the Wine and Spirits Association, said he welcomed the news, but hoped it would not lead to an increase in smuggling. "Customs have been very heavy handed with innocent shoppers in the past so this change makes sense," he said. "However, I hope it will not pave the way for groups of people bringing lorries full of alcohol back into the UK."

A spokesman for the EC told The Publican: "The reason we're doing this is because people taking advantage of deals and coming back into the UK with booze and cigarettes for family have been treated unfairly.

"The government has gone too far - confiscating goods and taking people's cars away."