Tobacco Taxation And The Single Market

EDM number 1025 in 1992-93, proposed by Peter Griffiths on 08/12/1992.

That this House notes that United Kingdom tobacco duties are currently among the highest in the EC; urges Her Majesty's Government to take account of the serious consequences of the removal of fiscal border controls in 1993 which, with no restrictions on cross-border shopping for personal consumption, will significantly increase the incentive to purchase tobacco products abroad; believes in the light of the failure by EC Member States to achieve any meaningful framework for tobacco tax harmonisation in Europe, that any further increase in duty will create additional incentives for smuggling and opportunities for organised crime, which, together with personal imports, could lead to United Kingdom Government revenue losses of ú1 billion per year, and, therefore, urges Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer to leave tobacco taxation unchanged in 1993, and to put in place adequate control procedures to minimise revenue losses derived from potential increases in the level of illegal imports from January 1993.

This motion has been signed by a total of 25 MPs.