As of October, only 2 packs of cigarettes will be allowed to be brought into Croatia from countries outside of the EU, reports Total Croatia News.
Up until now, Croatians living close to the Bosnian or Serbian border were able to cross over and import up to 10 packs (200 cigarettes) saving a large amount of money in the process.
However, under new proposals, starting from October only 2 packs of cigarettes or 50 grams of tobacco will be allowed to be brought into Croatia from non-EU countries, making the cross-border trips much less cost-effective, according to Total Croatia News.
Latest studies estimate around 7 per cent of the Croatian tobacco consumption is made up of non-taxable cigarettes hailing mainly from Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia. The value of this amount is thought to be worth between HRK 500 and 600 million (USD 78.7 and 94.4 million), reports Total Croatia News. The Croatian state collected HRK 5.11 billion (USD 802.4 million) from tobacco excise duties last year.