The Government doesn’t understand that illicit trade is organised crime
You would think the Government would be fully aware of the scope of the problem of illicit trade in tobacco in the UK. The Treasury certainly is – it loses £2.4bn in unpaid taxes to the crime every year.
So it amazes us that the Government continues to ignore the matter. My conversation with Scottish National Party MP Martyn Day last week revealed that while non-first world economies Brazil and Kenya have already taken significant action on reducing illegal tobacco by introducing track and trace systems, the UK continues to drag its feet on the issue.
He told me how, when he asked for a question in Parliament on illicit tobacco, it was put under a discussion on health. The Government simply doesn’t understand that illicit trading is organised crime.
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Combating illicit trade a key pillar of Belgium’s anti-radicalisation strategy says deputy prime minister Jan Jambon.
A Brussels conference has been told that the lucrative trade in illicit goods is helping to finance terrorist organisations such as Islamic State.
Speaking on Tuesday at a conference on counterfeit trade, Belgium’s deputy prime minister Jan Jambon said the “shadow economy” had helped finance those behind the terrorist atrocity in Brussels nearly 12 months ago.
The event was also told that the international community is “losing the battle” against the trade in illicit goods and that European governments “do not get” the scale and nature of the problem.
In a keynote speech, Jambon said, “An enormous illegal economy has been created worldwide, stimulating a tangle of obscure flows of money, allowing terrorists and their direct accomplices to organise themselves in a kind of parallel universe.”
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Health Ministry circulates cabinet note to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco.
The Health Ministry has circulated a draft cabinet note for approval to the signing of a protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products. Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said that based on the suggestion of department of revenue, an inter-ministerial group to recommend measures to promote ratification of the protocol by India was set up which is yet to submit its report.
“The Health Ministry had circulated a draft cabinet note for approval of signing of the protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products developed under Article 15 of World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention of Tobacco Control.
“However, based on the suggestion of the department of revenue, an IMG consisting of officers from department of revenue, finance and health was set up to look into the domestic legislations, do a gap analysis and recommend measures to promote ratification of the protocol by India. The IMG has not yet submitted its report,” she said.
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How African countries lose Sh1tr to illicit tobacco trade
Cigarette manufacturers operating in Africa are creatively fuelling illicit tobacco trade in a bid to evade taxation. This is leading to tax losses for African governments estimated to be in excess of a trillion shillings annually. The firms, which are subsidiaries of big tobacco multinationals, are reportedly selling cigarettes to their sister companies in markets where tax rates are low, which in turn sneak the now contraband cigarettes into high tax regime markets for sale in black markets.
Thus while the cigarette companies are able to recoup their costs and make margins on the products, tax authorities get significantly low revenues from taxes on tobacco products. The European Union has also been hit by such tricks by cigarette firms and is estimated to be losing €20 billion (Sh2 trillion) in taxes.
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Woman Held From Mumbai Airport With Gold Jewellery Worth Rs. 1.16 Crore
MUMBAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) today arrested a member of a gold smuggling syndicate from the Mumbai airport and seized gold worth Rs. 1.16 crore from her, a DRI official said.
“The passenger, identified as Farida Hajuri, admitted that she is a member of a smuggling syndicate that routinely send carriers to bring gold jewellery for monetary considerations,” said a DRI official.
The officials said that they received a specific intelligence that Hajuri would be arriving from Dubai and would be attempting to smuggle assorted gold jewellery without declaring the same to the customs authorities.
“Based on the intelligence, Ms. Hajuri was intercepted by DRI officers after she had cleared herself through the Green Channel of T2 terminal, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport,” the official said.
Upon her personal search, four bubble wrapped packets containing the assorted gold jewellery, weighing 6.053 kilograms, was recovered from her.
“Further investigation is on to identify the other members of the gang and ascertain how many times they might have smuggled gold into the country in the past,” the official said.
Counterfeiters, hackers cost US up to $600 billion a year.
WASHINGTON: Counterfeit goods, software piracy and the theft of trade secrets cost the American economy as much as $600 billion a year, a private watchdog says.
In a report out Monday, the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property says the annual losses range from about $225 billion to $600 billion. The theft of trade secrets alone costs the United States between $180 billion and $540 billion annually. Counterfeit goods cost the United States $29 billion to $41 billi .
Lear MoreApple Sues Accessory Makers for Selling Fake Products on Amazon, Groupon.
Claiming that genuine Apple accessories like Lightning-to-USB cables and USB power adapters sold on Amazon and Groupon are 90 percent fake, the Cupertino-based tech giant has filed a lawsuit against US-based Mobile Star LLC, accusing it of selling counterfeit accessories online.
“Almost nine out of 10 Apple-branded products the iPhone maker bought on Amazon were fakes,” according to the trademark infringement case reported by Patently Apple on Thursday.
Apple seeks up to $150,000 per copyright violation and $2 million (roughly Rs. 13 crores) per trademark infringement, believing that these counterfeit products could lead to fires and are, therefore, a risk to the public.
“Consumers, relying on Amazon.com’s reputation, have no reason to suspect the power products they purchased from Amazon.com are anything but genuine. Consumers are likewise unaware that the counterfeit Apple products that Amazon.com sourced from Mobile Star have not been safety certified or properly constructed… and pose a significant risk of overheating, fire, and electrical shock,” the lawsuit read.
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Mahindra & Mahindra Raids Auto Part Makers to Counter Fake Products.
Mahindra & Mahindra, country’s leading utility vehicle manufacturer, said it conducted raids across six auto spare part makers and sales outlets in the country, to counter the ‘ever-growing’ threat of counterfeit products.
The company seized more than a thousand items from raids conducted jointly with the police at shops, traders, packing and manufacturing units in northern India, Mahindra said in a statement on Thursday.
The parts most commonly duplicated include air filters, oil filters, pressure plates and clutch plates, Mahindra said. Counterfeit packaging and labels were also found.
“The biggest concern is safety, since counterfeit parts can wreak havoc in a vehicle, from braking failure to triggering a fire,” said Hemant Sikka, chief purchase officer, automotive and farm equipment at Mahindra.
http://auto.ndtv.com/news/mahindra-mahindra-raids-auto-part-makers-to-counter-fake-products-735717
Lear MorePolice uncover illegal tobacco farm in southern NSW worth over $11m.
TOBACCO plants worth more than $11 million have been seized in a massive bust in the state’s south.
The Australian Taxation Office and police raided a tobacco farm in Callemondah Rd, Shannons Flat, discovering 92,000 tobacco plants, more than two tonnes of tobacco leaves, $15,000 in cash, a shot gun and ammunition.
The estimated value of the excise avoided on the tobacco seizure about 40km northwest of Cooma is more than $11.77 million.
Monaro Police and ATO officers raided the property at 9.30am yesterday.
No arrests have been made but police said the investigation into this “significant seizure” continues.
The raid follows a tobacco seizure earlier this week in Victoria, where more than 15 acres of tobacco plants were seized at a property in Macorna, near Kerang.
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Nigerian arrested for drug smuggling.
NCB sleuths have arrested a Nigerian for allegedly trying to smuggle party drugs worth Rs 3 lakh from here to New Zealand using a postal courier.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) swung into action after a courier agency informed it few days back about a suspect parcel booked to the Kiwi nation, officials said. The sleuths soon landed at the courier office and recovered 300gms of Amphetamine (party drugs) from the said parcel and deployed their surveillance on the man who booked it. While the consignor details like address and other vitals on the parcel were fake, the mobile number was valid and it was put under surveillance.
http://www.oneindia.com/india/nigerian-arrested-drug-smuggling-2282586.html