Press Release: Excise duties: Commission proposes measures to strengthen the fight against fraud and simplify certain rules for private and commercial cross-border purchases

The European Commission adopted a proposal aimed at strengthening the fight against tax fraud and removing certain unnecessary tax obstacles to the movement of excise goods within the EU. The proposal sought to review the Directive on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty (alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and mineral oils). It provided a legal framework for the use of a computerised system to monitor the movement of excise goods for which no tax has been paid yet. This Excise Movement Control System (EMCS), which should be operational from April 2009, will help to better tackle excise fraud by creating a faster and more efficient means of information exchange between excise authorities. The proposal also aimed to liberalise existing rules for alcoholic beverages bought in one Member State and transported to another, and to simplify rules on the commercial movement of excise goods.