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.

The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute – which describes itself as ‘a new generation of global not-for-profit foundation that ensures the world's brightest ideas find their way to materialise, scale and create positive sustainable impact on humanity’ – has entered into an agreement to combat counterfeit and illicit trade in Africa.

The European Union represents the world’s first attempt at implementation of wide-scale, multi-country tobacco traceability and the largest iteration of the FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (the Protocol) in action. The implications in relation to one of the world’s largest tobacco market’s interpretation and implementation of the Protocol, as well as the benefits that traceability can provide in terms of combatting illicit trade, has the significant potential to influence tobacco traceability the world over.

A new study focusing on the trends and challenges of counterfeit and illicit trade in the high-tech sector – as well as the technologies for combatting such trade – provides interesting insights that are of relevance to other industries, including excise products.

The UK tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), has unveiled proposals for tougher sanctions against small-scale sellers of illicit tobacco, while at the same time putting in place its post-Brexit tobacco supply chain control measures.

In the February issue of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™, we launched a series of articles by Chander S Jeena, on the illicit tobacco trade in Southeast Asia and how it is being dealt with. This month we continue the series with an update on the situation in Cambodia.