Illegal tobacco trade costing governments billions in unpaid taxes annually- DEMTOCO

Georgetown: The Demerara Tobacco has reiterated the need for greater understanding of the illegal tobacco trade, the criminals behind it and the need for cooperation and collaboration to fight it.

This call to action is part of a new campaign, developed by British American Tobacco, to raise awareness of the facts around the illegal tobacco trade. DEMTOCO’s Managing Director, Maurlain Kirton indicated that the nature and scale of the illegal tobacco trade and, the approaches required to tackle it, vary from country to country. However, he said it is believed that if all of the different organisations involved in the illegal tobacco trade around the world were combined into one conglomerate, they would become the third largest international tobacco company by revenue.

Jerome Abelman, Director of Legal & External Affairs, British American Tobacco, also commented: “The impact of illegal tobacco may not be felt as immediately and directly as other crimes, but the consequences are very real. By some estimates, illegal tobacco costs governments around the world $40-$50 billion each year in unpaid tobacco taxes – the equivalent to approximately one $110million bank robbery every day of the year – and sales of illegal tobacco are reported to fund human trafficking, drug and arms trades as well as terrorist organisations.

The amount of illegal tobacco is much more significant than is generally realised: an estimated 400-600 billion cigarettes, the equivalent of approximately 10-12% of world consumption. It is a transnational, multi-faceted issue and one that requires a collaborative approach to tackle it, from governments and law enforcement agencies with whom we work in partnership to retailers and customers who can arm themselves with the facts.

The nature of the illegal tobacco trade varies from country to country but the causes are similar. These include large excise increases causing price differences between countries and ineffective law enforcement measures. We believe that illicit trade through the Caribbean uses a complex supply chain and potentially can come into markets as: under-declared legally registered brands; leakage from Duty Free bonds and product smuggled via in transit goods or through the under invoicing of CIF prices.

Mrs Argle-Kirton reiterated that DEMTOCO as part of the British American Tobacco Group is an important part of the solution. The British American Tobacco Group invests over $75 million each year to fight the illegal tobacco trade and has dedicated Anti-Illicit Trade teams across the globe that work with government agencies, including police and customs officials, with the aim of bringing criminals who are involved in the illegal tobacco trade to justice.

We also support the introduction of the FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in Guyana as an important part of the solution, but this treaty will only be effective if it is consistently applied and enforced by joined up governments.”