Countries within the European Union have lifted the limit on buying cigarette packets in other EU countries with authorities saying it will make it easier to stop smugglers, reports The Connexion.

In accordance with EU regulation, the limit, which had been one carton of cigarettes (200 cigarettes or 10 packs) per person, was lifted on 29 March.
While authorities claim this change will make it easier to combat cigarette smuggling, there has been an uproar from tobacconists and newsagents especially those located at the borders.
French tobacconists close to the border with Spain fear too-high competition because taxes on cigarettes in Spain are much lower than in France. According to The Connexion, two cartons of cigarettes (400 cigarettes or 20 packs) cost from EUR 107 in Spain, half the price of the same packs in France.
“It’s the end of us,” one tobacconist claimed. “We have lost half our customers.”
Newsagents and tobacconists in France are calling for prices to be standardised across the EU and anti-tobacco activists have also criticised the change.
“With this change, Europe and the Council of State have decided that health isn’t really that important, but what is important is the freedom of the market,” said Bertrand Dautzenberg, president of the Paris Sans Tabac association and a lung specialist.
He said that lifting the limit was effectively “telling consumers to go and buy their cigarettes in a country where they are cheaper”. He said the message was: “You can now get lung cancer or a heart attack for EUR 7 a day instead of EUR 12.”
It will now be up to customs officers to determine if the quantity of cigarettes brought into France are for ‘personal use’ or are contraband, reports The Connexion.