Tackling tobacco smuggling—building on our success: A renewed strategy for HM Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency
Abstract
The Government believes that tobacco smuggling must be tackled head on. Tobacco fraud costs taxpayers over £2 billion a year, depriving the general public of revenue to fund vital public services that support us all. The availability of illegal tobacco products undermines public health objectives and impacts on the health of both individuals and wider communities; circumventing health labelling requirements and age of sale restrictions. Since Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) “Tackling Tobacco Smuggling” Strategy was first introduced in 2000 the size of the illicit cigarette market has been cut by almost half with more than 20 billion cigarettes and over 2,700 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco seized. There have been more than 3300 criminal prosecutions for tobacco offences following action by our officers. The smuggling of cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco is also a key business for organised criminal gangs who use the proceeds of this crime to fund the smuggling of drugs, weapons and also human beings. It harms the overwhelming majority of law-abiding businesses who sell tobacco products legally, diverting revenues from retailers all over the country. This Government is committed to stepping up action to deal with this problem and “Tackling Tobacco Smuggling – building on our success” shows how HMRC with the support of UK Border Agency will work together to ensure that those who think that this is a quick, easy and above all profitable crime are targeted, tackled and punished.
