Bulgaria inbound duty-free stores forced to relocate

Tina Milton

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Duty-free shops on the borders with Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey will have to move from their entry point positions to exit routes when Bulgaria joins the EU on January 1 2007

Duty-free shops located at Bulgaria’s borders with Turkey, Serbia and Macedonia must be moved from the entry points to the exit routes under the new duty-free bill to be introduced in January.

Reports indicate that if store operators can not move their stores to an exit route, alternative stores location on the same borders will be found.

Bulgarian Duty Free Association president Radostin Genov said: “This decision defends the economic interests of Bulgaria and at the same time conforms with the criteria expressed by the European Union’s Taxation and Customs Union Directorate-General during our negotiations with them - sales will only be allowed to passengers leaving Bulgaria. The strong Bulgarian duty-free team and its parliamentary lobby has found the right conclusion to this complicated situation keeping the EU requirements for harmonization with the EU legal act.”