Foreign cigarette limit kept

THE number of cigarette cartons you can legally bring into France from abroad has been kept at five.

MPs voted to keep the cap despite criticism from the government that it breaches European Union rules on the free movement of goods.

The government had tabled an amendment to remove the cap, saying that, if France was ordered to scrap it, cross-border cigarette trade would rocket instantly as a result of France's higher prices.

Government studies have shown that between 12 and 22 per cent of cigarettes smoked in France are bought abroad.

MPs voted not to raise the price of cigarettes again, having already pushed up prices in November.

Currently 80 per cent of the price of a packet goes to the government.