German Tour Buses Warned against Smuggling Food to Iceland

Customs authorities in the East Iceland town of Seyðisfjörður, East Iceland, report that they have seized a significant amount of goods from German tour buses arriving on the ferry.

The ferry in Seyðisfjörður. Photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.

Bus drivers have been caught with their vehicles stocked with a large amount of food and drink for sale effectively meaning that passengers would not need to purchase food and drink from stores or restaurants while in Iceland.

Customs officer Árni Elísson told visir.is that tour buses bringing in their own food to the country is a problem but it is perhaps not as widespread as some people believe. “I don’t think this is a widespread problem. However, it is known about. We are always ready from early spring and we check most, but not all, of the buses, so some get past us but we simply don’t have the capacity to do more. We have taken a lot of goods from a lot of buses.”

Árni points out that tour operators who import goods into Iceland duty free for resale are in breach of various laws in Iceland. “It is not permitted to import such goods; alcohol and food—they cannot bring it into the country duty free and resell it. It is also not permitted to sell food onboard buses as they don’t have a catering license.”

Around four to five buses arrive on the ferry to Iceland each week.