‘Smoke Locally’ Law Tabled in France

French Parliament member Bruno Fuchs recently introduced a draft bill proposing that cigarettes must be consumed in the same country that they were purchased. According to Fuchs, about one-third of the 54 billion cigarettes consumed in France were purchased abroad by either legal or illicit means.

Of primary concern are cigarettes purchased in Luxembourg by French travelers and brought home. The difference in price of a pack of cigarettes in France and Luxembourg is €3 ($3.68). If Fuchs’s measure is approved, France could generate about €2 billion in additional tax revenue.