As illicit trade becomes more advanced, how do governments protect their revenues, citizens, and natural resources?

Enforcement authorities in Europe have taken down a criminal group operating an intricate cigarette trafficking scheme across several EU countries.

According to the latest US Tax Foundation report, ‘Cigarette Taxes and Cigarette Smuggling by State, 2022’, growing cigarette tax levels and price differentials have made cigarette smuggling a persistent, national problem in the United States. But price is not the only culprit, with state bans on flavoured tobacco and nicotine products also driving up levels of cross-state smuggling.

This article looks at the newly created, massive illicit market in vapor products originating mainly from China and sold in the United States (US). Despite being banned in both China and the US, brands like Elf Bar, Geek Bar, and Lost Mary continue to circulate. What’s more, they carry authentication labels that falsely suggest legitimacy, further exacerbating illicit trade.

Amid an intensified crackdown against the illegal transfer of fuel in the Philippines, two tankers, carrying 370,000 litres of smuggled fuel worth over PHP 20 million ($343,000), were confiscated by the Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Navotas City in September. One month later, another tanker was caught in the act of transferring smuggled fuel into four lorries at the Port of Batangas.

Thanks to the COVID-19 tobacco sales ban in 2020, South Africa has one of the highest illicit tobacco levels in the world today, with an Ipsos study finding that almost 60% of stores across the country are selling products for less than the minimum collectable tax (MCT).

According to experts from Brand Monitor, an online and offline market surveillance company, the demand for counterfeits of specific brands is generated not so much by end consumers as by retailers, who tend to piggyback off the marketing campaigns and reputation of brand owners, and then attract consumers with the offer of lower prices.

The global scale of counterfeit and other illicitly traded cement is a significant issue, particularly in developing countries like Pakistan, Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria. This article looks at how these countries are tackling the problem.

KPMG has released its latest annual study on illicit cigarettes in Europe1, commissioned by Philip Morris Products SA. The study shows that while illicit consumption in the 27 EU member states declined by 0.6 billion sticks in 2023, to reach 35.2 billion, overall illicit consumption in the 38 markets covered by the study rose by 3%, reaching 52.2 billion sticks.

During the Philippine Vape Festival, held in August, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) seized over 5,000 illicit vape products displayed and offered for sale at the event. The main way of identifying the vapes were illicit was their lack of tax stamps.