Bringing Tobacco Back From Europe

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dermotfahy

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 14, 2013
166
0
What are the limits on quantity of pipe tobacco that I can bring back from Europe to the US without paying duty?

 

papipeguy

Lifer
Jul 31, 2010
15,778
35
Bethlehem, Pa.
According to the US Customs site you can bring back 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars. The site says to contact the port of entry about pipe tobacco. The ATF site quotes a tax of $2.8311 on one pound. Good luck.

 

4etecjonathan

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 16, 2015
102
1
Just pack it in with your clothes and don't worry about it. Why open your mouth up and open a can of worms!!
Jon :puffpipe: :puffpipe:

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,205
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Not the wisest piece of advice I've seen posted. If you have paid taxes on what you purchased, such information is shared. Not that there is a lot of interest paid to all people for all transactions. Such information is used in conjunction with other behaviors to trigger responses by government entities.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Just bring along a flashlight and some KY in case they need to do a body cavity search.
But more seriously:
I've brought back a couple of dozen tins....I'm supposing that it is covered under the "total" value cap.
That's a smart way to view the situation. You're not bringing enough to smuggle, and it should be under the amount of:
According to the US Customs site you can bring back 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars.
So you should be good, or at least that's a reasonable supposition.

 

pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
6
Thanks for reviving this thread, Jon. I'm planning to bring back a whole bunch of tobacco from Europe (and some Condor at Heathrow duty free). I found the same info papipeguy posted a year ago. There doesn't seem to be some any universal limit in terms of "loose tobacco." However, let's consider the 100 cigar rule. According to tobaccofreeutah (http://www.tobaccofreeutah.org/cigar.html) one large cigar can have 17 grams of tobacco, so 100 cigars=1700 grams of total tobacco, which is the equivalent of 34 50g tins of pipe tobacco.

 

badger

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 2, 2016
105
0
Under the 100 cigar rule...
big-cigar.jpg


 

andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,042
400
However, let's consider the 100 cigar rule. According to tobaccofreeutah (http://www.tobaccofreeutah.org/cigar.html) one large cigar can have 17 grams of tobacco, so 100 cigars=1700 grams of total tobacco, which is the equivalent of 34 50g tins of pipe tobacco.
It's not that simple, and considering your bringing tobacco into a country that has some of the cheapest tobacco already, I can't see that arguement holding too well with customs officials. They want stuff they can easily count, like pre-rolled cigars, or packs of cigarettes, you would need to find how much loose tobacco you can bring back. I would do my homework.

 

pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
6
They want stuff they can easily count, like pre-rolled cigars, or packs of cigarettes, you would need to find how much loose tobacco you can bring back.
They can't count tins?
A phone call to the port of entry might work, but without some universal limit whatever they tell me on the phone might be completely different than what Joe Customs Officer decides on that day. Would be nice if each port of entry would have its limits posted online.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,066
Carmel Valley, CA
Unless it's a tobacco that is so superior and unique, why bother? So much better and cheaper tobacco is available here that unless the cachet of a European tin is something you want.

 

andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,042
400
They can't count tins?
A phone call to the port of entry might work, but without some universal limit whatever they tell me on the phone might be completely different than what Joe Customs Officer decides on that day. Would be nice if each port of entry would have its limits posted online.
Of course they can count tins, it's like in Canada you're allowed 200 grams of loose tobacco, which would be 4 50 gram or 2 100 gram, then 200 cigarettes, and then 50 cigars I believe. There will be a set guideline for every port of entry, I would simply do my homework and find out what it is.

Unless it's a tobacco that is so superior and unique, why bother?

Because there are unique tobaccos in Europe that can't be had in the US. Not much different than someone paying much more than retail for a hard to find tobacco available in the US but isn't in stock ever.

 

carver

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 29, 2015
625
3
Belgium
I don't know about US, but here in China, the rule is 400 cigarettes, 100 cigars or 500gr of tobacco. Which seems quite odd, considering the amount of tobacco in 400 cigarettes or 100 cigars. 500g of tobacco seems really low in comparison. Bastards...

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,066
Carmel Valley, CA
[In reply to 'why bother']

Because there are unique tobaccos in Europe that can't be had in the US. Not much different than someone paying much more than retail for a hard to find tobacco available in the US but isn't in stock ever.
Of course, but that begs the question: what is so much better that it commands a big premium? (Just two or three examples if you would.)

 

pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
6
what is so much better that it commands a big premium? (Just two or three examples if you would.)
I've picked up a number of tins from various tobacco shops in Europe. And while many of them ship to the US I've already got the unopened tins in my possession. I also have Condor, Germain's Rich Dark Flake (closest to Stonehaven I'll probably ever get) and am considering ordering some Hu tobacco out of Germany to bring back.
When I get the chance I will do as Andy says and do my homework. I'm going to call a few ports of entry in the US and see what limits they quote.

 
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