Good News for Customs Victims as Tribunal Finds Against Government on Car Seizures

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 20th Oct 2001

Local Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Diana Wallis was delighted to learn today that the London VAT and Duties Tribunal has found against the Government in a test case on Customs & Excise seizures of vehicles from tourists re-entering the UK with alcohol and cigarettes over the EU guidelines.

Many cases have come into Diana Wallis MEP's office of people who have travelled to the continent and put the EU Internal Market to good use by bringing back duty-paid tobacco and alcohol for their own personal use. As they go through Customs, several people have had their goods and cars impounded by Customs officials because the Government is using EU guidelines as definite rules, which was never the intention.

Diana Wallis MEP says:

"The Tribunal rightly found that the penalty was entirely disproportionate. In this case £2,000 of duty was at issue but a vehicle worth £6,000 had been seized and confiscated.

"This finding proves the Government has lost all sense of justice by its direction to Customs to target tourists in this way."

There are now a whole host of cases in the pipeline before Tribunals in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. Diana Wallis continued: "The London finding opens the door to substantial claims for compensation from the Government. This could prove to be a very costly error of judgement by the Government."

• The Government has 56 days to appeal the judgement

• Diana Wallis MEP is organising a European Parliamentary Debate on the matter which is likely to take place later this year

• The European Commission has issued 'guidelines' to Member States about how much duty-paid tobacco and alcohol people should be allowed to bring back from other EU Member States. These are guidelines only, and the Commission are now considering taking action against the UK Government citing incorrect implementation.