Cigarettes and Tobacco News

Nov 4, 2006 -- Eighteen million counterfeit cigarettes went up in smoke this week when Customs and Excise officials burned the contraband on a farm in Cato Ridge.

It was the biggest such operation in customs history. The consignment, which had a street value of R15-million, was seized about two months ago after a ship from China tried to smuggle the goods into the Durban Harbour.

Customs and Excise Anti-Smuggling Group Manager Deon Smith said on inspection at the examining depot, the vessel was found to contain "misdeclared" goods.

"In documents submitted, the goods were declared as biscuits. But, once we inspected the boxes, we found only the first four rows had biscuits and the rest were all counterfeit cigarettes," he said.

Smith said South Africa was a popular destination for illegal cigarettes, because the duty rate was higher than in neighbouring countries.

"Smugglers who evade duty rates get away with a lot more money and this is why they are able to sell the cigarettes at a lower price.

"Their financial gain is huge. From this consignment alone the revenue service would have lost R10,7-million.

South Africa's cigarette consumption is also higher than in our neighbouring countries."

According to Smith, illegal cigarettes are mostly sold to street vendors, tobacconists and liquor outlets looking to make easy money.

"If a normal packet of cigarettes is being sold to consumers for less than R10,50 the chances are high the correct taxes have not been paid and the cigarettes are illicit," he said.

Tobacco Institute of South Africa Chairperson Francois van der Merwe said the local tobacco industry loses roughly a billion rand to illegal cigarettes annually.

"The illegal trade of tobacco products is growing rapidly. Ten years ago it was virtually nonexistent, but now makes up 20 percent of the South African market," he said, adding that illegal cigarettes were also not manufactured in accordance with health department standards.

"Consumers don't know where the cigarettes come from, nor what is being put into them. Illegal cigarettes can be far more unhealthy," Van der Merwe said.

Customs and Excise has appealed to the public to hand over any information regarding smuggling syndicates and to report any products they suspect to be illicit.