British passengers traveling to EU countries will be able to take advantage of duty-free shopping from January 2021, according to HM Treasury.
This means that passengers will be able to buy duty-free alcohol and tobacco products, where available, in British ports, airports, international train stations and aboard ships, trains and planes.
The amount that passengers can bring back with them from non-EU countries will also be significantly increased and extended to EU countries.
The new U.K. inbound personal allowances are 200 cigarettes or 100 cigarillos or 50 cigars or 250 grams of tobacco or 200 tobacco-heating sticks or any proportional combination of the above
Following its departure from the EU, the British government has been reevaluating import duties.
Health advocates criticized the new rules. “Anything that increases the availability of tobacco is a negative step for public health,” a spokesperson for the British Medical Association was quoted as saying by The Independent. “Each year there are nearly half a million hospital admissions in England because of smoking in England and nearly 80,000 deaths annually.”