During his 2024 national budget speech, in February, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the South African Revenue Service (SARS) was deploying closed-circuit television (CCTV) and related technologies on the premises of licensed tobacco manufacturers, to address the high levels of illicit tobacco.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Region has released a new research report on the illicit trade of tobacco in the region, with the conclusion that illicit levels are ‘generally not alarmingly high in most south-east Asian (SEA) countries’.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Region has released a new research report on the illicit trade of tobacco in the region, with the conclusion that illicit levels are ‘generally not alarmingly high in most South-East Asian (SEA) countries’.

The Third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (MOP3) concluded on 15 February, in Panama City, after taking ‘decisive action to combat illicit trade in tobacco products’, according to a press release from the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

In 2023, Sovereign Border Solutions (SBS) wrote a series of three articles for Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ focusing on free trade zones (FTZs) and how they have become ‘hotspots’ for the illicit economy.

The manufacturing and sale of counterfeit beverages is alarmingly high in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab, the country’s most populated province. This illegal activity is continuing unabated, despite raids and confiscation of machinery carried out by the Punjab Food Authority (PFA).

During the summer of 2021, I looked at the illicit trade that had started to spin out of control in Australia in the wake of the pandemic.

Singapore is making amendments to its Free Trade Zones Act to enhance regulation and control of goods that flow through the 10 free trade zones (FTZs) in the country.

Following the news from the UK that tougher sanctions are being introduced on illicit tobacco sellers, this article takes a closer look at the close-knit network of organisations engaged in tackling illicit trade at retail level in the country.

Smoke Free Partnership, a coalition of NGOs working on EU policy analysis and advocacy linked to the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), has published a report by Luk Joossens, Senior Advisor, on the status of track and trace in countries that are party to the FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.