[Intl-tobacco] EU to UK: Cigarette and drink tax too high

[Robert Weissman]

Cigarette and drink tax too high, EU says

by DAVID CHARTER / CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Source: Times Of London (uk), 2001-11-20HIGH taxes on smokers and
drinkers in Britain were condemned yesterday by a European
Commissioner visiting Tony Blair.

“Excise taxes in this country are very high — they are the highest
in the European Union,” said Frits Bolkestein, the internal market
commissioner, who wants greater tax harmony between EU members.

He used his first visit to Downing Street to call on the Prime
Minister to cut taxes on cigarettes and alcohol and to stop
impounding holidaymakers’ cars if they exceed personal allowances.

“A quarter of all cigarettes in this country are smuggled - a loss
of £4.5 billion to the UK Treasury,” he said before the meeting. “So
there is an advantage to some degree of harmonisation.

The root cause of tobacco smuggling was Britain’s high duty levels,
he said. Seizing vehicles because drivers had exceeded their
allowances of tobacco or drink was a “disproportionate” response, he
added. His intervention follows concern from his officials in the
summer that customs officers were being too “heavy-handed” by
impounding more than 250 cars a month.

Mr Bolkestein also handed Mr Blair a Gallup survey of 4,000
companies from across the 15 EU states showing that complex
regulations put Britain bottom of the league of European countries
where it is easiest to trade.