Tobacco smuggling kills four times as many people as drug trafficking. But the UK government is not doing enough to stop it, claim experts on bmj.com.
Professor Robert West from the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre and colleagues argue that more smokers would quit if cigarettes cost more. But at around half the price, smuggled tobacco is keeping prices artificially low.
Around a fifth of all tobacco smoked in the UK is smuggled into the country. Without this illicit supply, the price of legal tobacco would increase by around 12%.
This would convince up to 8% of smokers to kick their habit, saving at least 4000 lives a year, say the authors.
A reduction in tobacco smuggling would also help reduce health inequalities. Smokers on a low income are more likely to use smuggled tobacco and they are also more likely to quit when prices rise.
The authors acknowledge that tobacco smuggling has reduced considerably since the government’s‘ anti tobacco smuggling strategy was announced in 2000.
But more needs to be done, they argue, calling for more resources to tackle the problem.
Unlike every other EU member state, the UK not signed up to legally enforceable agreements with the two tobacco companies, Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International.
These agreements force manufacturers to tightly control and regulate distribution and stop supplying contractors involved in smuggling. They also include strong financial incentives for tobacco companies to comply.
For the first 90 million smuggled cigarettes seized each year—the equivalent of nine 40 ft container loads—the companies have to pay all taxes and duties due. For any additional amount seized they have to pay 500% of all taxes and duties due, which amounts to around £6m for each additional container.
The authors point out that because public targets for reducing smuggling into the UK were dropped in March this year, HM Revenue and Customs can no longer be held publicly accountable for performance in this area.
They believe that when the new UK Border Agency takes over responsibility for cross-border control later this year, tobacco smuggling will be elbowed aside in favour of immigration issues.
They urge the government to set out comprehensive measures and clear targets for the Agency to staunch the flow of illegal tobacco, and to support negotiations, currently underway, for a strong international treaty to tackle smuggling.
Commenting on the research, Jean King, director of tobacco control at Cancer Research UK, said: “To date, the government’s response to tobacco smuggling has been weak so we welcome this call for increased anti-smuggling measures.”
BMJ 2008; 337:.a1933