Looking to cut duty-free allowances

New Zealand’s associate health minister, Tariana Turia, is aiming to cut, perhaps to zero, the number of duty-free cigarettes people may bring into the country, according to a story by Lynley Bilby for The New Zealand Herald.

Turia apparently intends to seek cabinet approval for the necessary law change during the next few months.

Travelers “avoided” between $55 million and $66 million in tobacco duties last year, according to official estimates, and that could rise to $84 million in 2016 unless the allowance is cut.

Ministry of Health officials are looking to copy Australia by lowering the duty-free limit from 200 cigarettes to 50; to copy Hong Kong by allowing arriving passengers to be in possession of only a single open pack of up to 19 cigarettes; or to eliminate the duty-free allowance entirely.