1 / 17

Tackling tobacco smuggling at national and international levels - the UK and FCTC approaches

Tackling tobacco smuggling at national and international levels - the UK and FCTC approaches. Andrea Crossfield Director Tobacco Free Futures, UK. What we’ll cover. The case for tackling illicit tobacco The UK Government’s approach Progress to date and future direction

mimi
Download Presentation

Tackling tobacco smuggling at national and international levels - the UK and FCTC approaches

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Tackling tobacco smuggling at national and international levels - the UK and FCTC approaches Andrea Crossfield Director Tobacco Free Futures, UK

  2. What we’ll cover The case for tackling illicit tobacco The UK Government’s approach Progress to date and future direction Action at international level

  3. Why tackle illicit tobacco? Health – undermines other tobacco control measures (e.g. price; health warnings; regulating and restricting children’s access) Needs to be part of a comprehensive tobacco control programme Crime – encourages crime at community, regional, national and international levels. Seen as high profit and low risk Economic impact – despite good progress UK national revenue impact (lost tax) c£2bn p.a.

  4. Tobacco smuggling into UK:up to 2000

  5. Tobacco smuggling: beyond 2000

  6. Tax gap reduction – a successful strategy

  7. Tackling tobacco smuggling:key developments 2000 £209 million over three years, 1000 more Customs officers / investigators, additional x-ray scanners, tougher sanctions 2000 Legal action launched by EU in the US against tobacco companies for ‘an ongoing global scheme to smuggle cigarettes’ 2002 UK Public Accounts Committee hearings expose Imperial Tobacco’s involvement in smuggling 2004 EU drops legal action against PMI in return for legally binding commitment to control sales of cigarettes and $1 billion 2006 Fines up to £5 million for tobacco manufacturers, focus on hand-rolled tobacco 2008 Combined HMRC and UKBA strategy 2009 UKsigned up to EU agreements with PMI and JTI 2010 agreements extended to BAT and Imperial Tobacco 2011 Refreshed HMRC and UKBA strategy 2012 Illicit Trade protocol to be adopted by WHO FCTC

  8. Refreshed 5-year UK strategy, published 2011

  9. Shift in large UK seizures of cigarettes 2000 - mainly top-selling UK brands smuggled from the EU 2003 - counterfeit UK brands begin to appear 2007 - emergence of non-UK & cheap white brands 2011 - genuine UK brands fell to 3%, while non-UK brands make-up over half of large seizures NB – in this context a ‘large’ seizure consists of 100,000 cigarettes or 50kg HRT

  10. ‘Illict whites’ - common brands

  11. World Bank analysis Tax and smuggling not necessarily linked (contrary to industry messaging) High tax countries often have low % smuggled tobacco and vice versa Linked more closely to levels of corruption and tolerance of contraband sales Smuggling a result of inadequate international controls

  12. But industry tells different story

  13. Role of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Ratified in 2005; now has over 170 Parties 80% world population 70% world cigarette producers 70% world cigarette consumption Over 60% cigarette exporters Over 70% tobacco leaf producers 8 out of 11 mega countries including China, Brazil, India, Japan; 26/27 MS of the EU

  14. Illicit Trade Protocol:controlling the supply side Increase downwards pressure on smuggling through WHO FCTC illicit trade protocol Tougher supply chain controls Tougher enforcement Greater international cooperation

  15. Illicit trade protocol: UK impacts A comprehensive and widely adopted protocol on tobacco smuggling could: Reduce smuggling in the UK by up to 80% Save 760 lives a year Increase taxes collected on tobacco by up to £1.3 billion a year ASH report: Cost Benefit Analysis of the FCTC Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products http://www.ash.org.uk/ash_7iqt6hvz.htm

  16. Key messages Illicit trade undermines tobacco policy and exacerbates tobacco related health inequalities Also reduces government revenues and linked to wider crime and terrorism Is used as an argument by the tobacco industry against putting up taxes, but high tax does not necessarily increase smuggling Also used as an argument against removing point of sale displays and plain packaging The illicit trade ballooned out of control in the UK because of tobacco industry tactics but is now on the decline thanks to concerted action Action is needed at international, national and sub-national levels

  17. Any questions? andrea.crossfield@tobaccofreefutures.org

More Related