When South Africa banned the sale of all alcohol and tobacco in early 2020, the intent was clear and noble: free up hospital beds so they would be available for COVID patients – and reduce tobacco consumption while a respiratory disease is ravaging the country.

In April, Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Industry and Trade welcomed a delegation of public and private sector officials from its West African neighbour Mali, who were seeking to draw inspiration from Burkina Faso’s experience in tobacco product traceability.

In France and the UK, there have been recent news stories of cigarette packs identified in the market as illicit because they were all carrying the same ID number (when this number should in fact be unique to each pack). What was not mentioned in these reports, however, was whether or not the packs were carrying authentication labels, which they are obliged to do under the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).

Europol’s Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2021 (SOCTA-21) provides a detailed account of the dramatic impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on organized crime, illicit markets in general and the illicit tobacco market in the EU in particular.

The illicit fuel trade in Benin has soared since 1980, and the situation isn’t much better today, reports David Zounmenou for ISS Today.

The Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has announced it will reverse the rules exempting export cigarettes from carrying tax stamps, after a legislator raised concerns that exports were entering the market as tax-free smuggled goods.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has released two articles in connection with its investigations into cigarette smuggling activities in West Africa.

When Canada legalized cannabis in October 2018, the expectation was that cannabis would be a significant revenue generator right out of the gate.

In its bid to generate excise revenue and disrupt the kind of spurious partnerships between manufacturers and transporters that have led to tragedies involving illicit liquor, the Punjab state government has adopted a slew of excise policy measures.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Trade Minister, Paula Gopee-Scoon, has announced the development of an action plan, in collaboration with key trade-related agencies and the private sector, to address the problem of illicit trade, particularly in regard to tobacco and alcohol imports, reports looptt.com.