Customs confiscated 2000 cigarettes I bought in France, but I flew into UK from Geneva a non-EU country?

Show all answers

BillyB8

You travelled in from a non EU country. Your limit is 200.

Technically you should have paid Swiss import duty as well.

confucious says

yes you have a good chance on appeal the cartons of cigarettes are coded for each country I assume they were still in the carton.

did you keep the reciept for the purchase if so you can also prove you have bought them in france

i honestly believe you have been treated badly appeal you have a good chance of winning the case.

offically only 200 from switzerland and that is where you travelled from but in the circumstances you should have been allowed through.
were the cigarettes actually marked french duty paid and did you buy them from a offical tabac.
if not you may have purchased counterfeit and thats is why they were confiscated
if this is the case an appeal will not suceed

edit to lucky&ty the customs did not take them it was security who confiscated them you are not allowed to carry liquids unless they are bought airside in the airport you are going to fly from in this case you were actually flying from Amsterdam

beetlebug

No. If you have no way of proving where and when bought, I'm afraid you're out of pocket

alexandra p

200 cigarettes thats the legal amount u can bring tax free from a non eu- country. because they left the eu when u crossed the border to switzerland they became a non eu-item

grant_saxby@yahoo.co.uk

Hmmm this is a triky one!!! Unless you have proof that you purchased the ciggarettes in France then customs will assume that you purchased them in switzerland which is a non EU Country. Therefore you only have an allowance of 200 ciggarettes per person travelling. Is there any way you can try and contact the shop you purchased them from and see if they will send another receipt out to you?? Doubt though they will as you paid cash! I have a feeling you won't be seeing these ciggarettes again!! But appeal anyway the least they can say is no. Good Luck.

Nick B

If you arrive into the UK from a non EU country you can only bring in 200 fags, the fact that Swiss or French customs didn't stop you does not mean you can bring them into the UK.

taxed till i die,

Have you still got the receipt for them.?

Lucky&Tye

Unfortunately I don't think you've got much chance. I bought two expensive bottles of alcohol duty free in Kenya and they were taken off me when I changed planes in amsterdam to fly to london. I literally walked from one plane to the other, the bottles were sealed, I had the receipts and they were still sealed in the duty free bag and the customs woman took them off me.

I don't think I helped my situation by telling her to enjoy drinking them as I knew she was keeping them for herself.

CaptainRowdy

Those bastards. The limits are guidlines not law. Plus you should have hidden them better.

tonalc1

That sounds odd. According to this news report, you can bring 3200 cigarettes with you.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2371295.stm

Granted, the report is from 2002, and laws may have changed (back) since then.

Did you declare them, or did they just find them? That may have made a difference.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: