24 June 2014
The Customs and Immigration Service will crack down on people importing tobacco and cigarettes and alcohol over the duty free limit this summer.
The service has recruited extra staff for a period of three months from the end of June to allow extra monitoring of passengers importing goods over the duty free passenger allowances without paying tax. They'll be focusing on tobacco products in particular.
Customs and Immigration has written to all the duty free shops at UK airports with flights to Jersey, plus airlines and shipping companies carrying passengers to the Island to let them know about the extra monitoring.
Director, Legal Status and Revenue, Customs and Immigration Service, Steven Le Marquand said “We have evidence that passengers continue to import tobacco and cigarettes in excess of the duty free allowances on a regular basis.
"These extra resources will ensure that such importations continue to receive the appropriate level of coverage without impacting on the priority to maintain the immigration controls and investigate the importation of controlled drugs into the Island”
In 2013 Customs and Immigration officers discovered 625 infractions where passengers exceeded their duty free allowance, and more than 182,000 cigarettes, 51 kgs of tobacco and 124 litres of alcohol were seized.
So far this year, officers have uncovered 547 incidents, resulting in the seizure of 153,500 cigarettes, 51 kgs of tobacco and 720 litres of alcohol.
gov.je