17.10.2006 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/15 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2006/79/EC of 5 October 2006 on the exemption from taxes of imports of small consignments of goods of a non-commercial character from third countries (codified version) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 93 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (%), Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (2), Whereas: (1)  Council Directive 78/1035/EEC of 19 December 1978 on the exemption from taxes of imports of small consignments of goods of a non-commercial character from third countries (}) has been substantially amended several times (*). In the interests of clarity and rationality, the said Directive should be codified. (2)  Provision should be made for the exemption from turnover taxes and excise duties of imports of small consignments of goods of a non-commercial character from third countries. (3)  To that end the limits within which such exemption is to be applied should, for practical reasons, be as far as possible the same as those laid down for the Community arrangements for exemption from customs duties in Council Regulation (EEC) No 918/83 of 28 March 1983 setting up a Community system of reliefs from customs duty (°). (4) It is necessary to set special limits for certain products because of the high level of taxation to which they are at present subject in the Member States. (") Not yet published in the Official Journal. (3) Not yet published in the Official Journal. () OJ L 366, 28.12.1978, p. 34. Directive as last amended by the 1994 Act of Accession. (*) See Annex I, Part A. (*) OJ L 105, 23.4.1983, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by the 2003 Act of Accession. (5)  This Directive should be without prejudice to the obli- gations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex I, Part B, HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: Article 1 1.  Goods in small consignments of a non-commercial character sent from a third country by private persons to other private persons in a Member State shall be exempt on importation from turnover tax and excise duty. 2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, ‘small consignments of a non-commercial character’ shall mean consignments which: (a) are of an occasional nature; (b) contain only goods intended for the personal or family use of the consignees, the nature and quantity of which do not indicate that they are being imported for any commercial purpose; (c) contain goods with a total value not exceeding EUR 45; (d) are sent by the sender to the consignee without payment of any kind. Article 2 1. Article I shall apply to the goods listed below subject to the following quantitative limits: (a) tobacco products (i) 50 cigarettes, or (i) 25 cigarillos (cigars of a maximum weight of three grams each), or (iii) 10 cigars, or (iv) 50 grams of smoking tobacco;