1992L0080 — EN — 08.03.2002 — 002.001 — 1
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►B COUNCILDIRECTIVE92/80/EEC
of19October1992
ontheapproximationoftaxesonmanufacturedtobaccootherthancigarettes
(OJ L 316, 31.10.1992, p. 10)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Directive 1999/81/EC of 29 July 1999 L 211 47 11.8.1999
►M2Council Directive 2002/10/EC of 12 February 2002 L 46 26 16.2.2002
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999
should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) andCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
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COUNCILDIRECTIVE92/80/EEC
of19October 1992
ontheapproximationoftaxesonmanufacturedtobaccootherthan
cigarettes
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Article 99 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee(3),
Whereas Directive 72/464/EEC(4), lays down in Title I general provi-
sions on excise duty which are applicable to all manufactured tobacco;
whereas, under Title II, special provisions have already been adopted
for cigarettes; whereas special provisions have yet to be adopted forother types of manufactured tobacco;
Whereas Directive 79/32/EEC(
5) laid down the definitions relating to
the various groups of manufactured tobacco;
Whereas, in order to establish the internal market on 1 January 1993, it
is necessary to establish minimum excise duties for manufacturedtobacco other than cigarettes;
Whereas a harmonized incidence of tax should be established for all
products belonging to the same group of manufactured tobacco;
Whereas the setting of an overall minimum excise duty expressed as a
percentage, as an amount per kilogram or for a given number of itemsis the most appropriate for achieving the internal market;
Whereas the Italian Republic and the Kingdom of Spain should be
granted until 31 December 1998 the possibility of a lower rate of taxon cigars and cigarillos in respect of rolls of tobacco consisting entirelyof natural tobacco which are not cigarettes;
Whereas a procedure should be introduced to enable the rates or
amounts laid down in this Directive to be reviewed periodically onthe basis of a Commission report taking account of all the appropriatefactors;
Whereas a mechanism should be set upto enable sp ecific amounts
expressed in ecu to be converted into national currency,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
The following groups of manufactured tobacco produced in the
Community and imported from non-member countries shall be subject,
in each Member State, to a minimum excise duty as laid down inArticle 3:
(a) cigars and cigarillos;
(b) fine-cut tobacco intended for the rolling of cigarettes;
(c) other smoking tobaccos.1992L0080 — EN — 08.03.2002 — 002.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 12, 18. 1. 1990, p. 8.
(2) OJ No C 94, 13. 1. 1992, p. 38.
(3) OJ No C 225, 10. 9. 1990, p. 56.
(4) OJ No L 303, 31. 12. 1972, p. 1. Last amended by Directive 92/78/EEC (see
page 5 of this Official Journal).
(5) OJ No L 10, 16. 1. 1979, p. 8.
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Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive, the definitions of the products
referred to in Article 1 shall be those laid down in Articles 2, 4 and4a respectively of Directive 79/32/EEC.
Article 3
1. Member States shall apply an excise duty which may be:
(a) either an ad valorem duty calculated on the basis of the maximum
retail selling price of each product, freely determined by manufac-
turers established in the Community and by importers from non-member countries in accordance with Article 9 of Council Direc-tive 95/59/EC of 27 November 1995 on taxes other than turnovertaxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco(
1),
(b) or a specific duty expressed as an amount per kilogram or in the
case of cigars and cigarillos alternatively for a given number of
items,
(c) or a mixture of both, combining an ad valorem element and a
specific element.
In cases where excise duty is either ad valorem or mixed, Member
States may establish a minimum amount of excise duty.
The overall excise duty expressed as a percentage, as an amount per
kilogram or for a given number of items shall be at least equivalent to
the rates or minimum amounts laid down for:
— cigars and cigarillos: 5 % of the retail selling price inclusive of all
taxes, or EUR 9 per 1000 items or per kilogram,
— fine-cut smoking tobacco intended for the rolling of cigarettes: 30 %
of the retail selling price inclusive of all taxes, or EUR 24 per kilo-gram,
— other smoking tobaccos: 20 % of the retail selling price inclusive of
all taxes, or EUR 18 per kilogram.
As from 1 January 2001, the amounts of EUR 9, EUR 24 and EUR 18
in the preceding three indents shall be replaced by EUR 10, EUR 25and EUR 19 respectively.
As from 1 July 2002, the overall excise duty levied on fine-cut
smoking tobacco intended for the rolling of cigarettes shall be at least
equal to 32 % of the retail selling price inclusive of all taxes, orEUR 27 per kilogram.
As from 1 July 2003, the overall excise duty shall be at least equal to
the following rates or minimum amounts:
(a) in the case of cigars or cigarillos: 5 % of the retail selling price
inclusive of all taxes or EUR 11 per 1 000 items or per kilogram;
(b) in the case of fine-cut smoking tobacco intended for the rolling of
cigarettes: 33 % of the retail selling price inclusive of all taxes, orEUR 29 per kilogram;
(c) in the case of other smoking tobaccos: 20 % of the retail selling
price inclusive of all taxes, or EUR 20 per kilogram.
As from 1 July 2004, the overall excise duty levied on fine-cut
smoking tobacco intended for the rolling of cigarettes shall be at leastequal to 36 % of the retail selling price inclusive of all taxes, orEUR 32 per kilogram.
2. The rates or amounts referred to in paragraph 1 shall be effective
for all products belonging to the group of manufactured tobaccosconcerned, without distinction within each groupas to quality, p resen-1992L0080 — EN — 08.03.2002 — 002.001 — 3
(1) OJ L 291, 6.12.1995, p. 40.▼M1
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tation, origin of the products, the materials used, the characteristics of
the firms involved or any other criterion.
3. The Italian Republic and the Kingdom of Spain may until 31
December 1998 apply to rolls of tobacco consisting entirely of natural
tobacco which are not cigarettes a rate or amount which may be upto50 % less than the normal national rate of excise duty for cigars andcigarillos and which may fall below the minimum rate laid down inparagraph 1.
4. The French Republic may until 31 December 2002 apply for
tobacco products covered by this Directive and sold on the island of
Corsica the same rates as were in force on 31 December 1997.
Article 4
Every four years, the Commission shall submit a report and, where
appropriate, a proposal concerning the rates of excise duty laid downherein. The Council shall examine this report and this proposal and,acting unanimously after consulting the European Parliament, shall
adopt the necessary measures. The report by the Commission and the
examination by the Council shall take into account the proper func-tioning of the internal market, the real value of the rates of exciseduty and the wider objectives of the Treaty.
Article 5
1. The value of the ecu in national currencies to be applied to the
value of specific excise duties shall be fixed once a year. The rates tobe applied shall be those obtaining on the first working day of October
and published in the Official Journal of the European Communities and
shall have effect from 1 January of the following calendar year.
2. Member States may maintain the amounts of the excise duties in
force at the time of the annual adjustment provided for in paragraph 1if the conversion of the amounts of the excise duties expressed in ecuwould result in an increase of less than 5 % or ECU 5, whichever is the
lower amount, in the excise duty expressed in national currency.
Article 6
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not
later than 31 December 1992. They shall forthwith inform the Commis-sion thereof.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a refer-
ence to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on theoccasion of their official publication. The methods of making such
reference shall be laid down by the Member States.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of
the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the fieldgoverned by this Directive.
Article 7
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1992L0080 — EN — 08.03.2002 — 002.001 — 4
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