Brussels, 10/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 10 November 2009, the ECOFIN Council reached agreement in principle on the draft EU directive to update and simplify EU tobacco duty rules. The agreement foresees minimum excise duty of €90 per 1000 cigarettes or a minimum of 60% of the average weighted cost price (compared with the current €64 and 57%). It allows the introduction of a transition period (until 1 January 2018) for Member States that have not yet (or only recently) introduced minimum duty (Bulgaria, Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Romania). From 1 January 2014, a special clause will apply to Member States not covered by the transition period (in other words, the Member States which levy duty of at least €115 per 1000 cigarettes and therefore do not have to apply the 60% minimum rate) whereby they can introduce a limit on the number of cigarettes (a limit of 300 cigarettes or more) that can be brought into the country from other Member States where transitional arrangements apply. Likewise, countries to which the transition measures apply can, once they levy duty of least €77 per 1000 cigarettes, limit the number of cigarettes that can be brought in from other Member States to at least 300 (from countries which levy lower levels of duty). The agreement also increases minimum excise duty on fine tobacco in five stages (to satisfy the conflicting demands of Luxembourg and the United Kingdom). The final phase will start on 1 January 2020 (50% of the average weighted sales price and €60 per kilo), compared with 2018 in the previous version (in 2018, 48% of the average weighted sales price or €60 per kilo shall apply). (A.B. trans fl)