(1)As from 10th May 1976 there shall be charged on tobacco products imported into or manufactured in the United Kingdom a duty of excise at the rates shown in the following Table—
| 1. Cigarettes | An amount equal to 20 per cent. of the retail price. |
| 2. Cigars | £2.765 per pound. |
| 3. Hand-rolling tobacco | £2.400 per pound. |
| 4. Other smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco. | £1.550 per pound. |
(2)Subject to such conditions as they see fit to impose, the Commissioners shall remit or repay the duty charged by this section where it is shown to their satisfaction that the products in question have been—
(a)exported or shipped as stores ; or
(b)used solely for the purposes of research or experiment;
and the Commissioners may by regulations provide for the remission or repayment of the duty in such other cases as may be specified in the regulations and subject to such conditions as they see fit to impose.
(3)The Commissioners may with a view to managing the duty charged by this section make regulations—
(a)prescribing the method of charging the duty and for securing and collecting the duty ;
(b)for the registration of premises for the safe storage of tobacco products and for requiring the deposit of such products in, and regulating their treatment in and removal from, premises so registered ;
(c)for requiring the keeping and preservation of such records, and the making of such returns, as may be specified in the regulations; and
(d)for the inspection of goods, documents and premises.
(4)If any person fails to comply with any regulation made under this section he shall be liable to a penalty of £200 and any article in respect of which, or found on premises in respect of which, the offence was committed shall be liable to forfeiture.
(5)In subsection (1) above " hand-rolling tobacco" means tobacco—
(a)which is sold or advertised by the importer or manufacturer as suitable for making into cigarettes; or
(b)of which more than 25 per cent. by weight of the tobacco particles have a width of less than 0.6 mm.
(6)In this section and the other provisions of this Part of this Act relating to tobacco " tobacco products " means any of the products mentioned in the Table in subsection (1) above which are manufactured wholly or partly from tobacco or any substance used as a substitute for tobacco but does not include products commonly known as herbal cigarettes or herbal smoking mixtures.