UK in court over booze cruisers

CUSTOMS officers are likely to stop seizing the cars of 'booze cruisers' after Brussels launched legal action over the tactic yesterday.

The European Commission said it was taking the UK to the European Court of Justice over its treatment of shoppers bringing low-cost alcohol and tobacco back across the Channel.

The move, which follows three years of stalemate on the issue, could lead to hefty fines if Britain is found guilty.

Treasury sources signalled last night, however, that they were willing to compromise to avert a full-blown court case.

Customs are expected to stop impounding the vehicles of people bringing back large amounts of drink or cigarettes as an unpaid favour for family or friends. Such shoppers are currently regarded as smugglers.

Under existing rules, EU citizens are allowed to bring cheap alcohol and tobacco home from another EU country without paying VAT, but only for their own use.

Customs say that means up to 110 litres of beer, 90 litres of wine, ten litres of spirits, 3,200 cigarettes and 200 cigars. Anyone caught with more faces having their car seized.

The commission accepts that Britain should be allowed to target professional gangs smuggling to make money on the black market. It also accepts that those bringing back wine or beer for others are technically breaking the law.

But it says 'minor fiscal offences' do not warrant such severe penalties as seizing a car. Tensions over the issue have been exacerbated by personal antipathy between Chancellor Gordon

Brown and Single Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein. They have clashed over a range of issues, including tax harmonisation.

Mr Bolkestein yesterday said severe penalties imposed by Britain interfere with EU citizens' rights.

But Treasury Minister John Healy said: 'Unfortunately, Mr Bolkestein has an axe to grind against the UK - because of the way we've consistently stood up against his plans for tax harmonisation and fought to tackle EU red tape.'

Treasury figures show there were 66,000 instances of alcohol or tobacco being seized at Channel ports last year.

But only 500 involved goods brought for family or friends - and a vehicle was impounded in only 28 of these, compared to around 10,000 seized from smuggling gangs.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in