Can we really bring back as much tobacco as we want from Luxembourg?

Last week, the Aisne gendarmes nabbed the three occupants of two vehicles packed full of tobacco coming directly from Luxembourg. In total, the guys had bought more than 2,000 pots of tobacco, or around 35,000 euros worth of merchandise. And despite the decree abolishing the maximum limits of tobacco that can be brought into France from another EU country, these men will be brought to justice for smuggling. Paradox? Not really actually.

Requested by a 22-year-old French student, the Council of State rendered, on September 28, 2023, a decision ordering the French State to comply with European regulations and, therefore, to remove the maximum tobacco thresholds that the You can buy in an EU country to bring them back to France. For example, we go from a maximum of 200 cigarettes to an “indicative threshold of 800”. From then on, inveterate smokers already saw themselves heading towards the Luxembourg cigarette El Dorado and stocking up on supplies there all year round for themselves and those around them.

Personal consumption or commercial purposes?

In principle, it is possible. The Aisne gendarmes themselves recognize “that buying cigarettes in Luxembourg is authorized without limits for consumption”. But there are still safeguards in place so as not to encourage smuggling, especially when we know that Luxembourg tobacco is on average three times cheaper than in France.

These safeguards were specified in Decree No. 2024-276 of March 27, 2024 in the form of twelve criteria to allow law enforcement to determine whether the tobacco was purchased for personal consumption or for commercial purposes. . Among other criteria, there are “the nature” and “quantity” of the products, “the mode of transport”, “the method of packaging”, “the existence of a recipient other than the holder”.

Read our file on smoking

Concretely, if you buy ten cartridges of your favorite brand and carry them in the back seat of your personal Yaris, it should work. On the other hand, if you are caught with a hundred cartridges from twelve different brands stashed in a rental van, there is a good chance that it will stick. Because, even if these purchases are indeed for your personal consumption, the customs officer could see them as contraband with regard to the famous twelve criteria. Thus, for the 2,000 pots of tobacco seized in Aisne, “we are far from personal consumption”, estimated the gendarmes.