Customs & Immigration

EU Customs Allowances

If you come to the UK directly from another EU country you can bring as much alcohol and tobacco as you want providing it is for your own use, and you can satisfy customs officers that you have brought it into the UK for personal use.

What constitutes personal own

'Own use' includes goods for your own consumption and gifts. If you bring in goods for resale, or for any payment, even payment in kind, they are regarded as being for a commercial purpose.

Leaving the airport through customs

Most UK ports and airports have three exits or 'channels', while some have only one exit, with a red point phone for declaring goods.

Use the Red Channel if you:

have goods to de clare
have commercial goods
have tobacco products from an EU country that are over the limits for imports from that country
are not sure what you should declare

Use the Green Channel if you are travelling from a non-EU country with:

no more than the customs allowances
no banned or restricted goods

Use the Blue Channel if you are travelling from a EU country with:

no banned and restricted goods
no tobacco products that are over the limits for imports from that country
If you bring in goods on which tax has been paid in an EU country, you do not have to pay any tax or duty on them in the UK.

Alcohol & tobacco - tolerated quantities

3200 cigarettes
200 cigars
400 cigarillos
3kg tobacco
110 litres of beer
90 litres of wine
10 litres of spirits
20 litres of fortified wine (such as port or sherry)

If you are bringing in alcohol or tobacco goods and the UK Customs have reason to suspect they may be for a commercial purpose, a Customs officer may ask you questions and make checks.

There are heavy penalties for smuggling, so:

Never carry anything into the UK for someone else.
Never bring banned goods into the UK.
If you are driving, make sure that everyone travelling with you knows what goods are banned or restricted. If you smuggle goods in a car, the car may be seized by Customs.
If you are in doubt, speak to a Customs officer in the red channel or use the red point phone.
A pet may be tame, but rabies is a killer. Don't even think of smuggling an animal into the UK. It could be carrying rabies and the consequences could be disastrous.

EU countries where limits are applied

Some EU countries are exceptions to the above, and limits on the amount of tobacco products brought into the UK without paying duty are applied. These are as follows:

Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia or Slovenia - 200 cigarettes*
Estonia - 200 cigarettes or 250g of smoking tobacco*

* No limit on other tobacco products as long as they are for your own use.

If you have tobacco products over these limits you should speak to a Customs officer in the red channel or on the red point phone.

Declaring cash when entering or leaving the UK

As of 15 June 2007, if you are travelling to or from a country outside the European Union (EU), you will need to declare any sums of cash of 10,000 Euro or more (or the equivalent in another currency) to the UK Customs.

You do not need to declare cash if you are travelling to or from another EU country.