No Smoke, No Fire
January 31, 2010 | Posted by NE Admin 
Breaking The Habit. Police Impound Smuggled Cigarettes
1 Feb – Combating the Global Illicit Trade in Tobacco and the consequences for Europe and Africa
17:30 – 19:00, European Parliament, ASP, 1G2, Brussels
Speakers include; Austin Rowan (European Commission’s Anti-Fraud Office [OLAF], Head of Operations, Task Group Cigarettes); Dr. Michael Anibueze (Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health); Bart Staes MEP.
It has been estimated that 10.7% of global cigarette sales were attributed to illicit trade in 2006 and the major tobacco companies were implicated in the hidden trade, including British American Tobacco, according to an investigation by the British Medical journal, who say “Documents show that BAT has advanced its corporate interests by systematically exploiting strategic opportunities to supply the contraband tobacco trade throughout Africa. To date, BAT and its senior directors have remained unaccountable via litigation or public inquiry for these activities, which was epitomised by the abandoned investigation by the UK Department of Trade and Industry in 2004 amid reports of political pressure.87 The lack of public accountability to date for these activities, in some of the world’s poorest countries, starkly undermines BAT’s claims of corporate social responsibility.”
A new protocol to be discussed and signed by governments at a meeting in Geneva in March is expected to boost the war on illicit trade in tobacco products as it will make it possible for countries to disclose bank accounts of suspected smugglers. The manufacturing or distributing of tobacco products whose duty have not been paid or dealing in products that do not bear applicable fiscal stamps or unique identification markings is considered an offence under the protocol that would be ratified by governments.
The issue has huger implications, not just for health and lost taxes, but also for fighting organised crime and the dubious uses of the profits from smuggling.
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