June 25th, 2001

A Scots MEP has complained to the European Commission that the UK Customs and Excise is intimidating travellers returning from trips to other member states with tax paid tobacco and alcohol.

John Purvis MEP says tobacco, beer, wine and spirits bought in other member states which is brought in by travellers returning to the UK are frequently confiscated by British Customs on the pretext that the goods are not for personal use.

Commissioner Frits Bolkestein who is responsible for European law on customs and excise is investigating the complaint which he says has been brought formally to his attention by several sources.

"I am becoming increasingly concerned by the activities of British Customs officials in interfering with the free movement of people and goods," said Mr Purvis in a letter to the Commissioner.

"The British government is attempting to maintain its very high excise rates on products such as tobacco and alcohol by intimidating travellers who are availing themselves of their rights to purchase tax paid goods anywhere in the European Union.

"It is already an abrogation of the basic principles of the EU's single market not to permit completely free parallel importing. In the case of tobacco and alcohol this is restricted to imports `for personal use' - hardly a formula which will bring about approximation of excise taxes, let alone the full benefits of single market competition to the ordinary citizen."

The British Customs have been massively increased in numbers with the remit from HM Treasury to eliminate this drain of excise taxes from the exchequer, claims Mr Purvis.

Customs have therefore taken to confiscating individual travellers' purchases of tobacco, beer, wine and spirits on their own assessment of whether or not it is for personal use.

"They depend on their extra-legal rights and on the impracticality of an individual citizen taking legal action against them, to intimidate EU citizens from availing themselves of their rights - and have even taken to threatening tour operators with confiscation of their vehicles."

Mr Purvis is a member of the Economic and Monetary Committee of the European Parliament as he was during his first term of office as an MEP in the early `eighties when the issue first arose.

"At that time the British government rejected `harmonisation' of excise taxes in the belief that a fully effective single market would achieve this more naturally," he said.

"It now seems the present government is unwilling to let the single market work in this respect and they are lobbying the Commission to have minimum excise tax rates increased closer to the absurdly high UK level."

Mr Bolkestein says the Commission is looking into whether the UK is conforming to Community law and will take appropriate action if it is found that they are in breach.

There are two issues under investigation - the rules in Articles 8 and 9 of Council Directive 92/12/EEC concerning goods brought in by private individuals for their own use from other member states and the system of controls and sanctions applied by the UK in this respect.

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