Border trade and private import in Nordic countries : Implications for alcohol policy Commentary

For many years the national alcohol policies of Nordic countries have been an important foundation for efforts to reduce per capita alcohol consumption and associated alcohol harm, including establishing production, import, and retail monopolies in four of the Nordic Countries, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, and Norway. The membership of Finland and Sweden as well as the economic treaty agreement of Norway and Iceland with the EU resulted in the elimination of all national monopolies except those for retail sales (see Holder et al. 1998; Holder 2000). Denmark had already been a member of the EU and did not have a national monopoly but had higher taxes for alcohol than other EU members. Of course, differences in price of alcohol (usually caused by the excise tax imposed on the product) can stimulate citizens in one Nordic country to seek lower prices in any neighbouring country with lower alcohol retail prices. Such private import was limited by strictly enforced quotas until these quotas were relaxed in a succession of policy changes by the EU. Relaxing restrictions on private import has meant in recent years that Nordic residents could bring almost unlimited quantities of lower cost alcohol back into their countries, effectively avoiding the intention of the national alcohol policies in lowering per capita consumption via higher excise taxes. The amount of private import and cross-border trading has also increased the amount of undocumented alcohol consumed in each Nordic country since alcohol purchases by Nordic citizens in another country are unrecorded in public records. HAROLD HOLDER