From: BBC
Some 50 billion dollars of tobacco is smuggled worldwide annually: a cost to taxpayers, and a health risk to consumers. But is high taxation itself the problem? We hear from Austin Rowan, adviser to the EU Office de Lute Anti-Fraude (OLAF) which coordinates the European Commission’s fight against the illicit trade, and we hear from one celebrated free-market economist, Arthur Laffer, who says that it’s time to take a fresh look at the rich world’s high-tax policies on tobacco. Also in the programme, we hear from our South America business correspondent, Katy Watson, about the economic debate affecting Brazil, ahead of next month’s presidential elections.
