Price increases have been a highly successful way of helping people become non-smokers: UK budget changes to tobacco duty have saved lives and prevented much serious illness. The UK has the most expensive cigarettes in the EU and among the most expensive cigarettes in the world. This is in large part to deter people from smoking.
However, the public health benefits of this taxation policy have been greatly undermined by tobacco smuggling. Smuggled tobacco now accounts for about 17% of the tobacco market. Increased smuggling leads to the wide availability of cheap cigarettes to the poorest people thereby maintaing high smoking rates among disadvantaged groups.
Counterfeit tobacco accounts for an increasing amount of smuggled tobacco in the UK. Over 25% of smuggled tobacco is counterfeit, often manufactured in the far East, and over half of all hand-rolled tobacco smoked in the UK.
The Chief Medical Officer’s alarming observations about the problem in 2004 are still relevant:
HM Revenue and Customs are the Government department responsible for tobacco duty/import and tackling smuggling:
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