Extras On Excise: Cigarette Smuggling Is A Frustrating Version Of Whac-A-Mole For Law Enforcement
Cigarette trafficking – transporting cigarettes from one jurisdiction to another without paying applicable excise taxes—keeps popping up across the country like a non-stop Whac-A-Mole game. But where is the seemingly endless supply of game tokens coming from?
The Tax Foundation has identified increased excise tax rates in certain states as a probable reason. Another possible influence is federal Native American tax jurisprudence’s effect on state and tribal relations.
http://www.bna.com/extras-excise-cigarette-b17179927088/
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Is India’s craving for tobacco declining
India, home to the world’s second highest number of tobacco users (around 275 million), last year had set a target of reducing tobacco use by 20% by 2020 and 30% by 2025. Going by the decline in tobacco products output, the target under an action plan drawn up by the ministry of health and family welfare, may not be out of reach. Stiff increase in tobacco and cigarette taxes and stringent packaging norms have contributed to the decline. According to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data, output of tobacco, which includes cigarettes, bidis and chewable tobacco products, declined by 12.1% in March 2015 from a year ago.
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Counterfeits: A ticking time-bomb calling for urgent action
It is particularly regrettable that the national Treasury, the ministry that should be at the forefront in efforts to grow the economy by protecting its manufacturers from unfair and illegal competition has officials sleeping on the wheel. Or how else can its allocation of a paltry Sh200 million to Kenya Anti-counterfeiting Agency in the current financial year be interpreted Analysts are unanimous that even the Sh500 million that the agency had requested would not have been enough to meet its operational costs if it was to execute its mandate as expected.
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Fake Medications May Be Widespread, But Who Knows?
If you take a medication for your blood pressure, you expect your pill to be what it is labeled to be. This is probably true in the United States and other developed countries, but in many areas of the world, that pill may be counterfeit. Falsified, counterfeit, or substandard medications are a poorly understood problem in global healthcare and their prevalence is not well studied.
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Counterfeit products: Alibaba ‘highly unlikely’ to take proactive steps to end grey/black market
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is highly unlikely to take major steps to shut off the grey or black market on its online platforms without an effective reason to do so, according to an industry expert. Responding to IBTimes UK, with regard to the Paris-based Kering SA brands’ lawsuit against Alibaba over the sale of counterfeit products on its websites, Brian Buchwald, CEO of consumer intelligence company Bomoda, said Alibaba’s marketplace facilitates billions of dollars of annual transactions related to grey and black market goods in the heart of their domestic market. “The effect for the luxury label is a loss of direct consumer relationships, a loss of the control of their trademark and product quality, and the significant diminution of revenue,” he says.
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75,000 counterfeit sunglasses seized at Mumbai port
What are the chances that those crisp 1000-rupee notes tucked into your wallet are fake? The bad news is that it’s possible, given that counterfeits keep popping up all over the nation.
The good news is that the chances aren’t very high, at least not yet, and the best news of all is that the government is close to getting a fix on the size of the problem. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in collaboration with the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), is now trying to figure out the total volume of the Fake India Currency Notes (FICN) in the country, officials in the exercise have told Hindustan Times.
Lear MoreIllegal Tobacco Trade Costing The Country Billions In Lost Taxes
The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry today heard that the government has lost an estimated R22bn in taxes since 2010 due to the illicit trade in tobacco. This is money that would have paid in taxes had the trade occurred legally. Almost one quarter of the market is in the hands of the illicit trade. Committee Chairperson Ms JoanmariaeFubbs said sanctions, such as the closure of illegal manufacturers, were needed. “It seems that some of the manufacturers producing legal tobacco also manufacturers of a percentage of illegal cigarettes. There has to be some intervention.”
The Committee further heard that South Africa is considering moving to plain packaging for cigarettes, which could include graphic photographs with a small branding of the company at the bottom.
The Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (Tisa) warned against going this route as it is not in line with intellectual property laws. Tisa’s Mr Francios van der Merwe applauded the South African Revenue Services for its interventions, which have led to a decrease in the illegal trade, but appealed for harsher penalties.
http://www.parliament.gov.za/live/content.php?Item_ID=7456
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No let up in smuggling, trade fraud
He said relevant agencies should clearly assign responsibilities and continuously co-ordinate and concentrate efforts in the fight against these evils.
He was speaking at a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Prevention and Control of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Counterfeit Goods in Ha Noi. He said despite the committee’s work, several serious cases of smuggling, fraud and counterfeit production have been recorded since the beginning of the year. These problems have persisted for years and continue to have adverse impacts on socio-economic development, he said.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/129046/no-let-up-in-smuggling–trade-fraud.html
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Bat Denies Smuggling Claims
As British American Tobacco (BAT) denies claims it’s been involved in cigarette smuggling, the National Council Against Smoking says there’s a strong incentive for tobacco firms to smuggle their own products.
This morning Eyewitness News revealed that a document formally submitted to Parliament suggested there was strong evidence BAT had been involved in smuggling along with State Security Agency officials.
The document was given to Parliament’s Finance Portfolio Committee by former South African Revenue Service (Sars) spokesperson Adrian Lackay as part of his submissions about the secret spy unit saga.
http://ewn.co.za/2015/04/23/BAT-denies-smuggling-claims
Lear MoreChina’s export tax removal will thwart tungsten smugglers
China’s move to scrap export taxes on certain noble alloys will remove the incentive to smuggle tungsten products, market participants said as they debated the likely impact on prices globally.
China will cancel export taxes on tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) and various other metals from May, the country’s Ministry of Finance said on Thursday April 23. The long-anticipated move was in response to a ruling by the World Trade Organization last year on trade disputes between China and other countries over rare earths, molybdenum and tungsten.
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