In Ventimiglia (Italy),
Sophie and David have their arms full of shopping bags. In the streets of Ventimiglia, the first major Italian city across the border, they came to stock up. “We had charcuterie with truffles, cheese with truffles, everything with truffles,” salivates the thirty-year-old. I love it and the prices are much better than in France. » But if the couple from Var, accompanied that day by one of their daughters, swallowed the 190 km of motorway from Toulon (and paid the tolls that go with it), it was above all to leave with another local specialty. Cartridges of cigarettes “more than half as expensive”. And “it’s profitable even with the cost of travel,” they assure.
Like them, many border smokers from the south-east of France make the journey every day, often from much closer (Menton is twenty minutes away), by car or even by train, to replenish their stock. A habit that should not be lost with the latest anti-smoking announcements from the government, which plans to increase the price of the package to 13 euros by 2026. If Italy maintains its price curve, this commercial tourism must therefore still have good days ahead of him. At present, however, it is done most of the time by circumventing the legislation. In good faith or not. Since 2020, France limits it to 200, or one cartridge, the volume of cigarettes that can be brought back (or 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars or 250 g of raw material to roll), per person, from a country of the European Union.
This decision, taken after the first confinement (which saw tobacco sales increase by 30% among tobacconists located near countries offering more advantageous prices, such as Spain and Belgium), is called into question by a decision of the State Council. This threshold should be multiplied by 4 to comply with European regulations, orders the court. The government still has four months to comply. Against the advice of majority parliamentarians who have just launched a bill aimed, on the contrary, at completely drying up this parallel market.
Cartridges at 52 euros
In the meantime, Sophie and David left Ventimiglia with more than four times the maximum authorized according to the rules in force. In the bags, nine cartridges, five of Marlboro at 60 euros and four of Philippe Morris at 52 euros, “but there are also some for a friend, who pays part of the costs for the road and which allows us all to better ourselves find it there.” “Honestly, I didn’t know. Especially since here, in the tobacco shops, they see that we are French and they sell us as many as we want,” Sophie is surprised. She gets annoyed: “And why at home, we never do like everyone else. Is this another way of finding the State to take more money from us? “.
Just before the couple, Christine, who “comes every week from Nice”, had also exceeded the quota, with three times ten packs of Camel in her shopping bag. But the rule could soon change. Seized by a 22-year-old student, the Council of State called the Prime Minister to order. In a decision dated September 29, the court ordered Élisabeth Borne to issue a decree to comply with European law, which sets the limit at 800 cigarettes (four cartons) per person.
Requested by 20 minutes, his office specifies that France has been “given six months to bring it into compliance”, i.e. until the end of March 2024, and that “this period will be used to consult” . At the same time, French deputies (Horizons), with the support of the Ministers of Health and the Budget, tabled a bill aimed at forcing manufacturers in the sector to only deliver to different European countries the quantities corresponding to the consumption on their own territory. The idea would therefore be to no longer allow our neighbors to sell to foreign customers.
Fines and even prison planned but very rare controls
But for now, status quo. Including for compliance with the quantities to be able to bring back to France. “Whatever the decision, the emphasis must continue to be placed on the fight against trafficking, the strengthening of border controls as well as the applicable sanctions,” further specifies a spokesperson for Matignon. In the event of excess, the regulations provide that offenders must pay “consumption duties” (210 euros for example for five cartridges) and are also liable to a prison sentence of one year and a fine of 750 euros. The products may also be confiscated, as may the vehicle used to transport them.
In reality, these checks would be at least very rare. Or even almost non-existent, according to the testimonies collected by 20 minutes among regulars of the Italian city. “Frankly, we come regularly, and we have never been asked anything when we cross the border at Menton,” assures Grégory, passing through with friends and who also exceeds the currently regulatory threshold for tobacco to be imported. I think they have other things to do with the explosion in the number of migrants. »
“Until 2002, Italians went to buy their tobacco in France”
Davide, the manager of one of the tobacco shops (tabaccheria in the plural, in Italian), flatly thinks that “the gendarmes do not dare to confiscate because they themselves know that French law is not lawful”. “No customer has ever told me that they had had any problem,” he confirms with a good level of French. With the number of visitors from France, knowing how to master the language of Molière (at least a few basics) is an obligation for local traders. And especially the tobacconists. “But we must not forget that until 2002, it was the Italians who bought their tobacco in France. At the time, it was cheaper there. »
Their colleagues from the Alpes-Maritimes were then smiling. Since they lost customers, the tone has obviously changed and the prospect of France increasing its quota at the European level is not rejoicing. “Why wouldn’t we ask Europe to move in the direction of a single cartridge everywhere, which is good for limiting consumption,” says Pierre Romero, president of the Federation of tobacconists in 06, interviewed by 20 minutes. With what is happening now, billions of euros are being lost [de taxes]. The other problem is actually that there are too few controls with the resources provided at the border. »
In the meantime, the departmental branch of its confederation has planned to finance a poster campaign to remind offenders of what they could be exposed to. At least, in the texts. She is also preparing for the transformation of the profession. An agreement was signed this Thursday with the CCI Nice Côte d’Azur to gradually “evolve professionals into “local utility merchants” in multi-products and services”.