800 cigarettes, or 400 cigarillos, or 200 cigars, or 1 kg of smoking tobacco

the Airline is immaterial

When travelling from the EU to the UK you can bring in an unlimited amount of most goods you have bought in another EU country without paying tax or duty as long as tax was included in the price when you purchased the items, the items are for your own use, and have been transported to the UK by you. This includes gifts, but does not include any item that is intended to be used as payment or to be resold.

Although there are no limits on the amount of alcohol and tobacco you can bring in from the EU, a Customs Officer is more likely to ask about the purposes for which you hold the goods if you bring large quantities of them. This will most likely be the case if you appear at the airport with more than
800 cigarettes, or 400 cigarillos, or 200 cigars, or 1 kg of smoking tobacco
110 litres of beer
10 litres of spirits
90 litres of wine
20 litres of fortified wine e.g. port or sherry

French tobacconists’ e-cigarettes debate reaches eu level

Tobacconists have claimed exclusivity over the sale of e cigarettes in France, which are currently sold in all shops. The tobacco directive remains silent over the sensitive issue.

In France, a tobacconist lodged a complaint against a dealer of electronic cigarettes for unfair competition because the product can be considered as a derivative of tobacco, the plaintiff claimed.

The case has put the distribution of e cigarettes to the forefront of the political debate. In France, there is a legal vacuum on the matter, even though a law dating back to 1983 states that cigarettes and smoking products «fall under the monopoly distribution of tobacconists , «even if they do not contain tobacco».

Another legal controversy surrounds advertising, which is prohibited in France since the introduction of the Evin law. The French Health Minister, Marisol Touraine, promised several times that advertising for e cigarettes would be prohibited but has not tabled any legislation so far.

In 2013, the e cigarette business is expected to amount to 200 million, according to official figures.

«70% of our network already offers electronic cigarettes for sale,» says Jean Luc Renaud, secretary general of the Confederation of tobacconists, which has some 27,000 members in France.

The sums at stake are not negligible. Tobacco products are taxed at about 80% of their selling price. But e cigarettes are considered like any consumer product and are therefore subject to VAT alone, which amounts to 19.6% in France.

For Jean Luc Renaud, of the Confederation of tobacconists, e cigarettes fall under the tobacco sale monopoly law and should therefore be sold exclusively by tobacconists. «We want that the sale of the electronic cigarette is done exclusively within the framework of the network of tobacconists,» he said.

A European directive in negotiation

At EU level, other countries have monopolies on tobacco sales, such as Denmark or Sweden, but existing EU laws have remained silent on e cigarettes until now.

This could change soon. The European Parliament voted for a new draft tobacco directive earlier in October, which provides a clearer framework for e cigarettes but does not address retail issues.

The Parliament’s green light now opens the way for negotiations with the representatives of the 28 EU member states, with MEPs hoping to clinch a deal before the European elections in May 2014.

Once the directive is enacted, member states will then have 18 months to transpose it into national law.