See also France’s failure to tackle cigarette smuggling threatens Europe’s safety.
From: Illicit Trade News Network
In the face of criticism that the French government has not done enough to stem the flow of illicit tobacco into the country, French MPs and Senators have been redoubling their efforts to address the problem. In the most recent attempt, Senator Xavier Iacovelli brought together all of the debate’s various stakeholders, for the very first time in France, to discuss the issue at a conference in late November.
***
To explain how this many licit smokes slip through the cracks, Iacovelli cited the arresting example of the parallel tobacco trade in Andorra. The tiny principality consumes 120 tonnes of tobacco per year, yet buys 850 tonnes from tobacco companies. The surplus supply, which retails for €1.20 a packet in Andorra, is carried by 8 million tourists across the border into Spain and, principally, into France, where a packet costs €8. While supplying Andorra’s duty-free shops in reasonable quantities is not in and of itself illegal, in practice it means that tobacco companies are able to get their product on the French and Spanish market without it being subject to the taxes which pad government coffers and underpin public health initiatives.
