Duty Free Allowances: Northern Ireland

(asked on 19th April 2023) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Penn on 12 April (HL7072), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, what is the reason why passengers flying from Belfast to EU countries are not able to purchase duty free goods in the same way as the rest of the UK.


Answered by
Baroness Penn Portrait
Baroness Penn
Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
This question was answered on 4th May 2023

The government is committed to preserving the frictionless movement of people and goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which is important to communities across Northern Ireland and would otherwise undermine the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

Enabling duty-free shopping between Ireland, which is a member of the EU, and Northern Ireland without also introducing border controls would lead to significant distortions of trade on the island of Ireland. It would also cause a significant revenue loss for both UK and Ireland by creating a legal route for unlimited amounts of alcohol and tobacco to flow into the UK market duty-free.

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