When we travel, we tend to bring back packs of cigarettes from other countries, which are much cheaper than in France. According to a new decree, smokers are no longer limited to a single cartridge.
Every year, to dissuade the French from smoking, the government continues to increase the price of tobacco, which is dangerous for health. Result: a good number of consumers have stopped buying them or switched to electronic cigarettes, while others take advantage of a trip outside France to bring them back to other countries, where the price of cigarettes is lower . But until now, a limit of 200 units, or one cartridge per person, but also 50 grams of tobacco, 100 cigarillos and 50 cigars. was imposed on French people returning from European countries. In comparison, under EU law the limit is 800 cigarettes, 400 cigarillos, 200 cigars and one kilogram of rolling tobacco, per person, from one EU member state to another.
According to a new decree published in the Official Journal on March 29, the purchase of cigarettes in the European Union is no longer limited, provided that you bring back cartridges for personal consumption. It is the customs officers who will decide between a purchase for commercial purposes or for their own needs. To determine the consumer’s intention, the latter will examine different criteria such as the commercial status of the buyer, the reasons for which he holds these products, the mode of transport or even “the destination of the holder when it differs from his place of habitual residence”, Thomas Cazeneuve had specified. Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, during a press briefing. For example, the variety of cigarette brands could be punished, because customs officials will consider that the packets are intended for other people, a smoker generally consuming the same brand.
For the moment, the number of cartridges authorized per car has not yet been defined, but this will not take long. “For the assessment of this situation, article L. 311-19 of the CIBS refers to a simple decree the task of determining the elements to be taken into account to qualify a trip for commercial purposes, by opening the possibility of determining thresholds quantitative limits beyond which detention cannot be qualified as detention for specific needs.“, specifies the decree.