In the July 2016 issue of Tax Stamp News™, Sven Bergmann of Venture Global Consulting covered a report by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute – a conservative policy think tank in Ottawa, Canada – on the illicit tobacco trade in Canada.

First, we hear that the Pakistan Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is on the point of awarding a track and trace contract for tobacco, sugar, cement, fertiliser and beverages to the highest scoring bidder in its latest tender. Then in the next breath, we learn that complaints have been received against the FBR over anomalies in the bid evaluation process.

A comprehensive new e-library focusing on tobacco taxation and illicit trade has been launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Knowledge Hub at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP). A project two-and-a-half-years in the making, it is set to be a valuable resource for students, researchers and policymakers across the globe.

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.

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.

The National Office of Vine and Vitivinicultural Products (ONVPV) in Romania is using holographic labelling from security printer Eltronis to promote the provenance of its regional wines and protect consumers from potential counterfeits.

The Department of Revenue and Taxation (DRT) of the US island territory of Guam in the Western Pacific, is opposing proposed legislation that would require it to hire a private company for the enforcement of tobacco taxes, as well as for the administration of a cigarette tax stamp programme that was supposed to be implemented in October 2018, but which is yet to see the light of day.

In September, the University of Bath’s Tobacco Control Research Group, a key partner in the STOP campaign (Stopping Tobacco Organisations and Products) published a case study and profile on South Africa and the country’s handling of the illicit tobacco trade.

One of the largest illegal cigarette factories ever discovered in the Netherlands has been dismantled by law enforcement, with 13 arrests and seizures of 3.6 million cigarettes and 32 tonnes of tobacco.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, South Africa introduced two highly contentious prohibitions, banning the sale of both alcohol and tobacco products. The impact has seen both a complete loss of all duties and taxes from these commodities, and a booming illicit trade.