Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:1999:308
Date: 1999-06-15
Language of the case: Finnish
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Taxation;Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Value added tax;Customs Union
Concepts: Tax exemptions;Exemptions allowed to travellers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Finland

Summary of the Judgment 
Common Customs Tariff— Duty-free allowances for goods contained in travellers' 
personal luggage — Harmonisation of laws — Exemptions from turnover tax and excise 
duty — Goods contained in travellers' personal luggage — National legislation prohibit­
ing or restricting, in the general interest, imports of certain goods by travellers arriving 
from non-member countries — Whether permissible — Restrictions (based on the 
duration of the journey) on imports of alcoholic drinks — Proportionate 
(Council Regulation No 918/83; Council Directive 69/169) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-394/97 
National legislation prohibiting or restrict­
ing imports of certain goods by travellers 
arriving from non-member countries on 
grounds of public morality, public policy, 
public security or protection of health and 
life of humans is not contrary to Regulation 
No 918/83 setting up a Community system 
of reliefs from customs duty or to Directive 
69/169 concerning exemption from turn­
over tax and excise duty on imports in 
international travel. Nor, in principle, is 
national legislation restricting imports of 
alcoholic drinks by travellers arriving from 
non-member countries. Similarly, national 
legislation restricting imports by travellers 
arriving from third countries of alcoholic 
drinks, on the basis of the duration of the 
journey, with a view to combating distur­
bances of public order connected with the 
consumption of alcohol, is not contrary to 
either of those measures. 
Neither the Regulation nor the Directive, 
the objectives of which are respectively to 
eliminate differences in the field of exemp­
tions from customs duties and to harmonise 
exemptions from turnover tax and excise 
duty on imports in international travel, do 
not preclude the application by the Mem­
ber States of import or export prohibitions 
or restrictions which are justified on the 
grounds referred to above. As regards, in 
particular, restrictions on imports on the 
basis of the duration of the journey, such 
legislation is consistent with the principle 
of proportionality since it is appropriate in 
so far as it introduces only a limited 
derogation from the Community system 
of customs and tax reliefs applicable to 
travellers, and since it is necessary in so far 
as the alternatives do not appear to be 
effective enough to attain the objective 
pursued. 
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