And so, farewell then, duty-free

At the June Summit of European Union Heads of Government, Tony Blair, allied with the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, and the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, failed to postpone once again the demise of the traveller's perk.

Like some rich spinster aunt keeping potential heirs guessing, duty free has lingered on its death bed for years, rallying occasionally, until on 30th June, 1999, it passed away. Despite such powerful support these leaders of Europe could not achieve the necessary unanimity among their fellows to prevent the ban coming into force.

The existence of duty-free concessions within the European Union was seen as illogical by the Commission in Brussels and the decision to remove them was taken in 1991. Since then there has been intensive lobbying of governments by ferry operators, airport authorities, and other groups with vested interests in the continuation of the trade. In the United Kingdom it was argued that 30,000 jobs would be lost as a result of the ban and Mr Blair's government became one of the most vocal in calling for a reprieve. Germany, with the well-being of the Baltic ferries particularly in mind, also hoped to extend the life of duty-free. It is, however, necessary to have unanimity in these decisions and determined opposition from Denmark and The Netherlands made certain that the 30th June deadline remained in place.

The confusion which has been generated over the last few years was kept up to the last. Ferries over the last few days of duty-free were fully booked, with eager shoppers queuing early least they boarded the ship too late to buy goods which, in many cases, they could probably buy cheaper in their local High Street and could certainly do so in the hypermarkets clustered around the French channel ports. The last weekend of the 52 year-old exemption saw record numbers of people crossing the Channel simply to buy duty-free goods for the last time. Their hurry may have been misplaced, however, since ferry operators intend to subsidise many goods in order to keep their price down to the duty-free level. Besides, duty will now be charged at the rate levied in the country where the sea journey started. Shops at airports will, of course, miss out on this advantage.

The drinker who takes a short-term view will still be able to enjoy a cut-rate booze-up: purchases for consumption on board ferries and aeroplanes remain duty-free. Passengers will still be allowed to buy duty-free goods on journeys to destinations outside the EU.

There appears to be a certain degree of public confusion as to what exactly is happening.

The hypermarkets, on the other hand, are quite clear that they stand to increase their profits.