Cigarette smuggling in Europe: who really benefits?

SPECIAL COMMUNICATION Cigarette smuggling in Europe: who really benefits?

Cigarette smuggling, now on the increase, is so widespread and well organised that it poses a serious threat to public health. This threat comes from two principal directions. First, smuggling makes cigarettes available cheaply, thereby increasing consumption. A third of annual global exports go to the contraband market, representing an enormous impact on consumption, and thus causing an increa...

From cigarette smuggling to illicit tobacco trade.

BACKGROUND Tax policy is considered the most effective strategy to reduce tobacco consumption and prevalence. Tax avoidance and tax evasion therefore undermine the effectiveness of tax policies and result in less revenue for governments, cheaper prices for smokers and increased tobacco use. Tobacco smuggling and illicit tobacco trade have probably always existed, since tobacco's introduction as...

Early or delayed radiotherapy after prostatectomy—who really benefits?

Case studies in international tobacco surveillance: cigarette smuggling in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE This article is the first in a series of international case studies developed by the American Cancer Society to illustrate use of publicly available surveillance data for regional tobacco control. DESIGN A descriptive analysis of Brazil and Paraguay cigarette production and trade data from official sources. METHODS Per capita cigarette consumption for Brazil and its neighbour was ...

Progress in combating cigarette smuggling: controlling the supply chain

BACKGROUND The illicit tobacco trade results in huge losses of revenue to governments, estimated at $US40-50 billion in 2006, and in increased consumption and thus health problems because it makes tobacco available more cheaply. On 20 October 2008 the second meeting of the International Negotiating Body (INB2) on the illicit trade protocol of WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)...