Turkey considers duty-free tobacco restrictions, say reports

Gavin Lipsith

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Preliminary work has begun on legislation to lower inbound and outbound tobacco allowances, according to unconfirmed press reports

Turkish duty-free retailers may face restrictions on inbound and outbound tobacco sales if local press reports are verified. The reports cite the chairman of the Turkish Tobacco Products and Alcoholic Beverages Regulatory Board as saying that preliminary work is under way on the restrictions, which would limit passengers to buying one carton of 200 cigarettes from Turkey’s arrivals shops, and three cartons from its departures stores.

The European Travel Retail Council secretary general Keith Spinks said that the country’s retailers had not received any formal notice of the restrictions. The association and local retailers, including Gebr Heinemann’s local partner Unifree, are seeking confirmation from the relevant authorities.

At present passengers arriving in Turkey are allowed to bring three cartons of cigarettes into the country—one from their point of departure and two from arrivals stores at Turkish airports. The new legislation would limit passengers to purchasing just one carton at the arrivals stores, although they will still be allowed to bring in one carton from their point of departure. People travelling to Turkey by land will have the same allowance, provided they have been out of the country for 72 hours or more.

Turkey was considering abolishing its inbound allowance altogether in 2005, but the duty-free industry forced a reprieve after installing a state-of-the-art system at arrivals shops that prevented abuse of allowances.