Monthly Archives: March 2011

Brazil Loses R$2 Billion in Taxes with Contraband Cigarettes

From CRE Brazil

Each year, Brazil loses nearly R$2 billion in taxes due to contraband cigarettes. This estimate was announced last month by the industries after comparing information from market research and sales quantities. According to calculations, approximately 16% of the cigarette business in the country is illegal and the distribution of contraband products is growing by about 2% a year.

The amount that is not paid to the government is about the same; for example, the 2.1 billion used by the federal government last year in rebuilding cities hit by natural disasters

 
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Cigarette Counterfeiting, Problems and Thoughts on Countermeasures

From: China Tobacco/Shandong Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau

Editor’s Note: Translation courtesy of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness

Although China’s is working to crack down on counterfeit cigarettes, the manufacturing and sale of fake smokes is a covert activity that changes location, has the strong ability to regenerate. Counterfeit cigarette cases are increasingly complex. The counterfeit cigarette trade is conducted by large organizations and results in the loss of State revenue. The high level of chemicals in counterfeit cigarettes will affect the health of people to a certain extent. If the problem of counterfeit cigarettes is not solved as soon as possible, is bound to affect the healthy and orderly development of China’s tobacco market as a whole. So, what are the harms from making and selling fake cigarettes? 

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Tianjin police uncover a serious counterfeit cigarette case

Editor’s Note: Translation courtesy of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness

Tianjin Hong, March 24 (reporters Wang Jiajun, Ding Xiaobing, Shi Jiao).

Recently, the Tianjin police cracked the case of large groups trafficking in counterfeit cigarettes with a value of over one million yuan. Police indicated that in recent years, the groups have been taking orders for manufacturing and selling counterfeit cigarettes. So where are counterfeit cigarettes sold and where does the demand come from?

Tianjin police deployed more than 150 elite police in the Beichen District village where an underground counterfeit cigarette factory was confiscated.

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Zhenhai News Network: Nearly 3,000 Counterfeit Cigarettes Were Destroyed

Editor’s Note: Translation courtesy of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness

Source: http://www.cnnb.com.cn/, Ningbo, China Network   March 22, 2011

Zhenhai News Network (correspondent Chen Feng-shan) reported today that nearly 3,000 counterfeit cigarettes and 2.5 tonnes of low-quality silk were destroyed. The value of the counterfeit cigarettes was 736,000 yuan and involved nearly 20 brands.

“Most of the consignment was seized in transport or shops.” District Tobacco Monopoly Bureau staff said. There were dozens of ways to tell the cigarettes seized were counterfeit, mostly counterfeit famous brands, which show some authenticity but are also full of flaws. “At a glance it could be determined the cigarettes were produced in an underground factory. For instance, some of the brands have never produced hard pack cigarette boxes that in the market were actually for sale.”

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Cigarette Ban Would Slash State Revenues

By MERRILL GOOZNER, The Fiscal Times
March 20, 2011

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Friday said banning menthol cigarettes will be a boon to public health, especially among young people and African-Americans, for whom mentholated brands are often a gateway to lifetime smoking.

But strategies that are good for public health are starting to adversely  affect federal and state revenues. Raising taxes on the declining number of people who smoke has finally reached a tipping point with revenues generated by cigarette taxes starting to fall, according to government documents and data provided by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.  A menthol ban would accelerate the trend.

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