Tourists unwittingly 'smuggling' cigarettes

Holidaymakers to some European Union countries are unknowingly breaking the law by bringing back more cigarettes than they are allowed to. Unlike the rest of the EU, only 200 cigarettes can be brought back from Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. It means tourists can be charged with smuggling if they go over the limit and face fines of up to £800.
Britain, along with a number of other western European countries, applied the rules in 2004 and 2007 when the eastern countries with low cigarette taxation joined the EU.
A greater amount of cigarettes can be brought back from other EU countries, as long as it can be proved they are for personal use. But some Britons are falling foul of the rules. Tourist Dave Hunt had 1,800 cigarettes confiscated by customs officials at Gatwick airport after coming back from the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
The 35-year-old said: 'I didn't realise I couldn't bring that many in. These are EU countries and we're meant to have free trade between them so why have they made up these strange rules?'
HM Revenue and Customs maintains that travellers are receiving adequate warnings of the limits, with posters at airports and leaflets.