Duty Free Goods? - Cruising south of Brest

KevO

KevO

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Looking forward to our planned (non-organised Scuttlebutt) excursion to Brittany in June and have been perusing the rules and regs re use of the Q Flag etc. I understand that when travelling between EU countries (not the Channel Islands) we do not (unless carrying goods that have to be declared or non-EU persons) have to show Flag Q.

Anyway... while searching the stuff out I came across a reference that says one may be authorised to load duty free (not VAT free) goods such as booze and tobacco products if the intended destination lies south of Brest. Has anyone been through the rigmarole of actually doing this and is it more hassle than it's worth or not?

My Bro and I plan to leave Falmouth towards Cameret and then Douarnenez and further south as time and conditions allow before returning about 3 weeks later.

It's just a thought... If I can get my rum, wine and cigars cheaper on departure rather than relying purely on stocking up on arrival that might be useful :) Do they even DO Kraken Rum on le continent???
 
Never heard of that one. Doubt you will find anybody willing to provide booze and fags duty free. You would have to declare them if you entered France anyway. You will find booze generally cheaper in France than UK and common to make Cherbourg the landfall for a long cruise to stock up. You could do the same in Brest. Give up the fags and save even more. You know it makes sense.
 
As I said, we're going from Falmouth to Cameret then further south. Absolutely nowhere near Cherbourg (thankfully). And it was a question raised by interest rather than a firm intention but there will be suppliers to vessels in Falmouth that must do this very regularly.
 
Tranona said:
Never heard of that one.
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Loading up the duty free stores under Customs supervision is something you find in older sailing books. I think the Pardeys mentioned it when they passed through the UK in the 70s, and certainly Tillman does. Mum's talked about my grandad doing it - the stuff had to be stowed "under bond" in a sealed locker that wouldn't be opened until out of UK waters, and grandpa had bought so much that they stacked it all up in the heads and had the Customs man put his seals on the door!

I guess it mostly went away as the EU customs union appeared; apparently there may be some vestiges remaining.

Pete
 
sailorman said:
you will still be within the EU, how do you expect to obtain ships stores
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I don't expect to do anything... but the rules (GO SEE PARA 6.5 OF THE LINK) seem to say that one may be eligible to do so if going south of Brest, or more specifically outside 'the box' bounded by 48 deg 30N, 61 deg N and 12 deg W as I read somewhere else in the regs.

And google shows there are bonded stores that will supply to yachts.
 
Dear Kev O,

We have found that the supermarkets in France (L'Aber Wrach and southwards, even beyond Brest etc) have some well priced spirits and wine is much cheaper generally. Can't speak for tobacco as I'm a confirmed 'Anti'.

My opinion is that the hassle involved in Duty Free (locked cabinets and paperwork frenzy) would make it les than desirable with not much financial benefit.

And if you bring any of it back and want to use it - I can't imagine the trouble that might cause.
 
NPMR said:
Dear Kev O,

We have found that the supermarkets in France (L'Aber Wrach and southwards, even beyond Brest etc) have some well priced spirits and wine is much cheaper generally. Can't speak for tobacco as I'm a confirmed 'Anti'.

My opinion is that the hassle involved in Duty Free (locked cabinets and paperwork frenzy) would make it les than desirable with not much financial benefit.

And if you bring any of it back and want to use it - I can't imagine the trouble that might cause.
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Yeah I suspected that the paperwork would be a 'mare and for the small amounts we are talking I have no doubt it would not be worth the effort or hassle in reality... Like I said, it was something I saw that caught my interest and I just wondered about it. :)
 
I don't really know, but I would expect that such stores are intended to be consumed while at sea. When arriving in France you would presumably (in theory) have to declare them, and either pay duty or have them locked away until you go back to sea.

Pete
 
KevO said:
As I said, we're going from Falmouth to Cameret then further south. Absolutely nowhere near Cherbourg (thankfully). And it was a question raised by interest rather than a firm intention but there will be suppliers to vessels in Falmouth that must do this very regularly.
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That is why I suggested you do the same thing in Brest, where you have a better choice of hypermarkets than in the smaller towns.
 
prv said:
Loading up the duty free stores under Customs supervision is something you find in older sailing books. I think the Pardeys mentioned it when they passed through the UK in the 70s, and certainly Tillman does.
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And @ 2 minutes in this video:

 
In 1978 I crewed on a boat (Crusade, ex Max Aitken's boat, now Crusade of Dee) from Brighton to Gibraltar non-stop and onwards to Palma. The skipper stocked up on duty frees (to be consumed on-board) and a very pleasant voyage it was.

They were stored under Custom's seal in a locker to which the skipper had the key.

I seem to remember the prices were ridiculous, a fraction of the duty free shop prices. I imagine it would hardly worth the bother for a duty free wholesaler to stock up a yacht these days.
 
prv said:
"covers commercial vessels only. For pleasure craft see Notice 8 Sailing your pleasure craft to and from the UK" - which I think is where we came in :)

Pete
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But it goes on to say,

9.1 Which ships are ‘entitled’ to carry duty-free stores?

(a) ships of not less than 40 tons register (that is, net tonnage) leaving for a port outside the UK

(b) tugs of less than 40 tons register but not less than 200 tons gross leaving for a port outside the UK

(c) fishing or other vessels of not less than 40 tons register leaving the UK for an area of open sea outside ‘the Box’ (see Glossary at section 17)

(d) vessels of not less than 40 tons register engaged in the exploration or exploitation of mineral resources on the Continental Shelf, including supply vessels subject to certain conditions (see paragraph 3.2); and

(Note: These vessels sometimes go to a work point that is inside the Box but outside the UK’s territorial seas. In such cases, you may carry duty-free deck and engine-room spares, foodstuffs and other items needed for the vessel to function, but not duty-free alcohol and tobacco)

(e) yacht and other private craft of less than 40 tons register departing on a voyage to a port outside the Home Trade limits (see Glossary at section 17). See also Notice 8 Sailing your pleasure craft to and from the UK
 
Like many others, we stock up from the bond warehouse whenever in Gib. 2 years ago, Marlboro were £1.35/pack compared to around £8 in UK or 4 euro in Portugal. Because we had far more than the personal duty free allowance, we had a visit from customs officers who placed a seal on the bond locker. Fortunately, we've never been searched in Spain or Portugal where they may well decide to charge duty on the import.

IIRC, the UK rules specify how many cigs etc may be consumed at sea per day but, you are still only allowed to bring the normal duty free allowance on shore, on return.
 
Minchsailor said:
In 1978 I crewed on a boat (Crusade, ex Max Aitken's boat, now Crusade of Dee) from Brighton to Gibraltar non-stop and onwards to Palma. The skipper stocked up on duty frees (to be consumed on-board) and a very pleasant voyage it was.

They were stored under Custom's seal in a locker to which the skipper had the key.

I seem to remember the prices were ridiculous, a fraction of the duty free shop prices. I imagine it would hardly worth the bother for a duty free wholesaler to stock up a yacht these days.
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Hardly relevant in today's world.
 
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