Illicit trade endangers the healthy structure of trade and industry, and requires constant vigilance from Customs administrations, which, due to their position at the border, play a critical role in combating this trade that causes enormous detriment to state revenues and that of industries aroun...
Scientists determined long ago that there is a direct causal link between smoking and ill-health for both smokers and passive smokers. Despite overwhelming evidence, some stakeholders continued to peddle doubt regarding the health implications until this false contention was no longer tenable.
Cigarette factories need various raw materials, intermediate goods, and manufacturing equipment to operate. Controlling trade in such inputs should therefore be part of Customs’ strategy in the fight against illicit cigarettes trade. This article presents the var...
Some key inputs may be substituted with alternative materials, while others may be used to manufacture products other than cigarettes. They also differ in terms of number of suppliers which produce them, and ease with which they can be identified referring to their trade names and WCO Harmonized ...
Taxing tobacco products has historically been a simple way for governments, through their Customs and tax agencies, to collect revenue. Indeed, Adam Smith wrote in his 1776 book The Wealth of Nations, “sugar, rum, and tobacco are commodities which are no where necessaries of life, whic...
The taxation of tobacco is a core policy mechanism for reducing cigarette smoking. Evidence shows that the greater the tobacco tax increase, the lower the cigarette consumption. National revenue agencies, such as Customs, collect enormous amounts of cigarette taxes every year through impo...
Introduction
International trade is subject to conflicts that can arise from, among other things, the inherent tension between business profits and governmental protection of health, safety and the environment. Topics suc...