The lifting of personal import restrictions on alcoholic beverages from other European Union countries on Thursday did not lead to an immediate surge of cheap imports from Germany.

   

Most of the Finns arriving in Hanko on a car ferry from the German port of Rostock on Thursday evening had few, if any, bottles with them.

   

Many were in Germany to buy a car. Tuomas Narsakka, who travelled to Germany with his brother Nico to bring home two BMWs, says that he was surprised to find that stores in Germany were closed on New Year's Eve.

   

There is also a shop on the Superfast Ferries ship, but Narsakka decided against buying there, because he could not be bothered to carry the boxes down to the car deck himself.

The Finns bringing in cars from Germany were quite aware of the lifting of the quotas - allowing unlimited imports of alcohol and tobacco from other EU countries for personal use or as gifts.

   

"They told us when we bought the ticket", says Petteri Vainikka from Tampere.

   

Vainikka was in Germany to pick up a Mercedes station wagon from Wolfsburg. He also brought ten litres of liquor with him. However, he was an exception among the arriving passengers - many of whom, like the Narsakka brothers, were caught off guard by Germany's store-opening times.

   

Heikki Nurmi, who works in the ship's on-board shop, says that the closing of German stores on December 31 was reflected in increased sales on board. The most enthusiastic bought 30 cases of beer containing 24 cans each.

Finnish customs authorities did not expect a very big rush from the beginning of the year. A major upheaval is expected in May, when the Baltic States join the European Union.

   

Until neighbouring Estonia joins the EU, Germany will be the closest EU country where the retail prices of alcohol and tobacco are significantly lower than those in Finland. Travellers from Sweden are allowed to bring in a much smaller quota of duty-free alcohol and tobacco if the ship they are on makes a port call in the semi-autonomous Åland Islands, which opted out of the EU's taxation union.

   

The prospect of Finns crossing the Gulf of Finland in droves to load up on unlimited amounts of alcohol in Estonia has led authorities to do what would once have been unthinkable: sharply reducing Finland's traditionally high tax on alcohol. The tax cut takes effect in March.

   

In the meantime, Juha Niskanen of Finnish Customs says that the authorities are keeping a close eye on developments, adding that they have the means to deal with the situation if it gets out of hand. He notes that tickets to Rostock have been selling well.

Superfast Ferries confirms that tickets have sold well. However, the company insists that this is not an indication of a surge in alcoholiday travel, as many Finns travel to Germany at this time of the year anyway.

   

Finns taking the ferry on Thursday evening told Helsingin Sanomat that cheap alcohol was not the main motive for their travel; most planned to get a new car.

   

"Maybe I'll get a bottle of spirits and a bottle of wine", said Esa Immonen from Joensuu, who was going to Germany with two friends to pick up new cars. They had old Finnish cars with them as trade-ins.

   

"They send them to Africa for use as taxis", Immonen said.