Half a Million Bottles of Cognac Seized

Chinese customs officials have arrested four suspected smugglers and confiscated more than 520,000 bottles of Louis Royer XO Cognac bound for the Chinese mainland. It is alleged that those arrested avoided paying the correct excise duty and VAT by lowering the declared price by 30% and falsifying customs declarations at their HK company. Clamping down on imports appears to be another measure by the Chinese government to curb luxury spend and cognac exports to China continue to fall.