Is is possible for member of the public to import philip morris
cigarettes from colombia and if so how?

---

Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 27 Feb 2005 13:44 PST

Yael, 

It really depends on jurisdiction. Where are we talking about (country, etc.)? 

In addition, answering a question like this (the Researcher must look
into tax and custom regulations) is impossible without investing much
time and work. You might want to have a look at the Google Answers
pricing guide:
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

---

Clarification of Question by yael-ga on 02 Mar 2005 10:23 PST

from colombia to the UK....

Dear Yael, 

Let's start with import for personal use, through the Internet. This
is possible, though you must pay excise, 57.6% duty and 17.5% VAT.

See : 
Common Internet goods 
<http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/downloadFile?contentID=HMCE_PROD_009989>

Shopping on the Internet 
<http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&propertyType=document&resetCT=true&id=HMCE_CL_001454>

If you want to be a distributor of cigarettes in the UK, you might be
in a problem. Philip Morris probably has an agreement, placing Philip
Morris UK (or the importer) and the only lisenced importer. This is
civil, rather than cirminal, problem, and they might sue you. You can,
however, learn more about becoming an importer/exporter here:
<http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_Home>
.

A third possibility is that you want to import while travelling there
(as your question was placed in the "travel" section of our site): you
are allowed to bring up to 200 cigarettes from anywhere outside the EU
(including Colombia) without paying any duties.
Travelling to the UK from outside the European Union (EU)
<http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD_010220&propertyType=document>

Providing, that: 
"If you are under 17 you cannot have the tobacco and alcohol allowances.
You are entitled to these allowances only if you travel with the goods
and do not sell them.
If you bring in something worth more than the limit of ?145, you must
pay charges on the full value, not just the value above ?145.
You and anyone you are travelling with cannot pool your individual
allowances to bring in an item worth more than the limit. You will
have to pay charges on the full value of the item.
If you are bringing back any duty-free or tax-free goods you bought
when you left the UK, these count as part of your allowance." (ibid).

You'll have to go through the red route, and pay duty, for more than
200 cigarettes.

I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer before you rate it. I first searched in
the Customs site, in order to find the answer.

Not to sure about the importing bit but you do realize that these
would be grey market ciarettes which means that they are made of poor
quality compared to their counterparts. And you can purchase grey
market cigarettes from any other nation besides the us.

No doubt the price offered for the cigs is attractive, but have you
considered that importing them is probably tax evation?  NO doubt, a
researcher can quickly answer that.