From Mr P. Scerri

I should like to clarify two points made in the article “Customs denies claims of harassing traders returning from Sicily” (TMIS, 13 January).

1. Our interventions at the border are guided by risk assessment and/or reasonable suspicion that Customs and Excise legislation is being broken, e.g. that prohibited/restricted goods such as narcotics are being carried. Random controls to ascertain compliance with Excise legislation are only resorted to inland.

2. It is not correct to say anything above the threshold of “some 10-12 bottles of spirits” brought in from a member State is considered to be a commercial quantity. The quantity of excise goods is not, by itself, sufficient evidence of commercial intent – each case is treated on its own merits and all circumstances are taken into account. Volumes higher than the above-mentioned threshold are allowed into the country without paying any additional tax of any kind as long as the importer satisfies Customs and Excise officers that the goods are indeed intended for own use.

Paul Scerri

Director General

Customs Division