Brexit may revive duty-free
Tobacco after Brexit
People traveling to the European Union may no longer have to pay U.K. excise duties on alcohol and tobacco in the near future.
The U.K. Treasury announced on Tuesday that duty-free shopping for those products will be reintroduced in U.K. airports, ports and international train stations if Britain leaves the trading bloc without an agreement. Such a move would cause the country to fall out of the single market and become a third country.
Holidaymakers will also be able to bring in limited amounts of alcohol and cigarettes bought at duty-free shops in the EU.
Until the 1990s, travelers within the EU were able to shop without paying certain local taxes and duties, or customs charges, on the condition that they took the goods out of the country. Duty-free sales were then abolished when the single market was introduced.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock criticized the Treasury for its announcement, saying he does not think it was “seen from within a public health context.”
The U.K. Parliament recently passed a law requiring Prime Minister Boris Johnson to request an extension to Brexit negotiations until the end of January unless he can secure a deal or parliamentary approval for no deal by Oct. 19.