Brussels, 24/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has sent the United Kingdom a formal request for information about its application of EU law on excise duties on tobacco and alcohol. All EU citizens have the right to buy tobacco and alcohol in other Member States, duty paid, for non-commercial use - and to bring the products home. Without challenging the serious contraband problems faced by the UK, the Commission is concerned that the zealous controls currently being applied at UK ports and airport, and the sanctions applied when UK excise duty law is breached, may breach EU rules. The Commission's request for information will take the form of a "letter of formal notice", the first stage of the infringement procedure. In the absence of a satisfactory reply, the Commission may proceed to the second stage of the infringement procedure - a formal request of the UK to change its practices, in the form of a reasoned opinion. Commissioner Frits Bolkestein's spokesperson, Johnathan Todd, said that the solution to this type of problem lay in greater fiscal harmonisation between Member States and pointed out that on 15 March 2001, the Commission unveiled a proposal to review excise duty and how it is levied for manufactured tobacco products (see EUROPE of 16 March, p.9) and it will be putting forward a similar proposal in November concerning alcoholic drinks.