Tobacco.org

• Smugglers Prosper in Spain’s ‘Perfect Storm’ for Tobacco  

Spanish smokers, squeezed by higher taxes and a deepening recession, are increasingly relying on smugglers to feed their habit.

Illegal imports now account for 7 percent to 8 percent of Spanish cigarette sales, compared with almost nothing a year ago, according to the country’s tobacconists association. In southern provinces such as Cadiz, Seville and Malaga, the proportion is 20 percent.

“Smuggling and fake tobacco, which had been eradicated since 1993, came back strongly last year,” said Jaime Gil- Robles, corporate affairs director at Altadis, the Spanish unit of Imperial Tobacco Group Plc. (IMT)

Smuggling, encouraged by a December 2010 increase in tobacco taxes and a ban on smoking in public places, has eroded both government coffers and company revenues. Spain, which has the European Union’s highest jobless rate, collected 14 percent less tobacco taxes in 2011 than a forecast of 9.05 billion euros ($12 billion), excluding value-added tax, according to Altadis.

Jump to full article »

VIDEO: Smuggled Tobacco on Rise in Spain, Gil-Robles Says - Video  

Jaime Gil-Robles, corporate affairs director at Altadis SA, the Spanish unit of Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, talks about tobacco smuggling and consumption in Spain. He spoke with Bloomberg's Manuel Baigorri in Madrid on Jan. 26. (Source: Bloomberg)

Jump to full article »

Roll-ups boom as UK smokers cut back  

SMOKERS trading down to value cigarettes and rolling tobacco in the UK boosted the owner of the Gauloises, Ducados, Lambert & Butler and Davidoff tobacco brands.

Imperial Tobacco said underlying volumes fell 7% in the final quarter of 2011 as sales were hit by the impact of sanctions in Syria, further declines in Spain amid the economic gloom, and destocking following a price rise in the US.

But revenues were down just 1% as it benefited from price rises and the sale of more expensive products.

And in the UK it has seen strong demand for its value brands, including JPS and Windsor Blue, and a rise in demand for fine-cut tobacco as customers roll their own to save money.

Jump to full article »

Imperial’s Spanish losses continues  

A combination of anti-smoking regulation, higher taxes and a price war precipitated a double-digit fall in cigarette volumes in the key Spanish market during the first quarter for Imperial Tobacco.

The FTSE 100 company, which owns Davidoff and Gauloises brands, declined to specify the extent of the fall for the three months to 31 December but said it expected the rate of decline to slow during the remainder of the year.

It caps a miserable year for Imperial in Spain, its biggest single market by revenue after Germany and the UK, coming in the wake of a profit warning last June due to a price war with rivals BAT and Philip Morris.

In November Imperial reported its full year operating profit in Spain had fallen by more than a quarter to £200m.

Jonathan Fell at Deutsche Bank said he expected the losses to moderate.

Jump to full article »

Four Corners tobacco seizure 

Customs stopped a Spanish registered vehicle at Four Corners station yesterday and seized a substantial quantity of contraband cigarettes. The vehicle had been seen by officers first entering, then subsequently leaving, the queue of traffic heading to Spain.

Jump to full article »

Cigarette seizures by Customs 

Customs sy they stopped a Spanish registered vehicle at Four Corners (Land Frontier) station which had been seen by Officers first entering, then subsequently leaving, the queue of traffic heading to Spain.

The vehicle was searched and a commercial quantity of cigarettes found concealed therein. The driver of the vehicle, a 25 year old Spanish national, was arrested and later released on bail until January 26th; the vehicle and 9,200 cigarettes have been seized by HM Customs.

Jump to full article »

Tobacco gang nabbed  

The Guardia Civil has arrested a gang that sold contraband tobacco from Gibraltar, Andorra and the Canaries throughout Spain.

Nine persons were arrested in Seville and officers seized 12,350 cartons of tobacco, nine cars and E240,000 in cash.

"The gang introduced large quantities of tobacco from the Canaries, Gibraltar and Andorra into Spain, and sold it throughout the peninsula but especially in Andalucía and Galicia," the Guardia Civil said in a statement.

Jump to full article »

• Smoking them out in Gibraltar  

• THRIVING: TOBACCO SMUGGLING ON THE BORDER IS ON THE INCREASE AGAIN AMID THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

“THERE you go look, they’re smugglers over there, you can spot them a mile off.”

The Gibraltar Defence Police (GDP) officer is pointing in the direction of a small group of youths on mopeds huddled round conspicuously, in full view of the Gibraltar frontier.

In the UK they might be referred to as ‘hoodies’ – their hooded sweat tops pulled tightly over their heads giving a distinct sense of menace.

Here, they are known simply as ‘smugglers,’ in a word synonymous with this border for centuries, …and they are apparently almost part of the furniture.

“They come back and forth over the border several times a day taking cartons of cigarettes into Spain,” continues my source, who has been in the job ‘for years’ and is speaking on condition of anonymity. . . .

Tobacco smuggling is a big problem in Gibraltar, with organised gangs reselling the Rock’s duty-free cigarettes for a profit, over the border in Spain and further afield.

Legally, you are allowed to take a maximum of one carton of 200 cigarettes across the border from Gibraltar into Spain each month.

In reality however, scores of people are smuggling across their annual allowance in the space of a day, motivated by the prospect of making a profit of three or four euros from each carton.

The issue is not a new one in Gibraltar.

Jump to full article »

Smugglers throw stones from Spain after Gib Customs seize 40,000 cigarettes 

During a routine shore patrol by Customs at Eastern Beach, a man was seen acting suspiciously near the frontier fence. On being approached by the two Customs Officers, the man made his way towards Spain.

A pursuit ensued which then saw the two officers give chase to a group of six men who had been hiding in amongst the rocks with several master cases of cigarettes.

Although the group made good their escape, officers were able to seize four cases (containing 10,000 cigarettes each) from the beach, sea and amongst the rocks.

Jump to full article »

Football: Spain; no smoking in Camp Nou for first time  

The match between Barcelona and Batasuna that will be played tonight in the national cup competition will the first played in the Camp Nou stadium before a public that is not allowed to smoke, since the stadium was opened in 1957. A smoking ban is in force in the entire stadium since the start of this year. It was approved in the most recent shareholders' meeting held in September 2011 with 538 against 89 votes and 38 abstentions

Jump to full article »

El Pais: No change in smoking act in Spain  

The Health Ministry will not make changes to anti-smoking legislation, a spokesman stated briefly last week, Spanish El Pais writes. Although reforms to the law had not been on the Popular Party (PP) election platform, then-candidate Mariano Rajoy suggested during his campaigning that, if he won, he might reintroduce separate areas for smokers and non-smokers in bars and restaurants - an initial arrangement that was struck down by a January 2011 reform that completely banned smoking in closed areas.

Jump to full article »

• Black market cigarette sales jump in Spain ($$) 

A series of increases in the tax on tobacco sales in Spain over the past two years has triggered both a price war between companies battling for recession-hit consumers, and a sharp rise in the sale of black market cigarettes.

“Because of the recession, and falling purchasing power, the problem of black market tobacco seems to be getting worse,” said José Luis Nueno, a professor of marketing at the IESE business school.

According to a report this year by Altadis, owned by Imperial Tobacco , 6 per cent of total cigarette sales in Spain are black market, rising to 10 per cent in Andalusia, and as high as 20 per cent in cities such as Málaga and Seville.

Over the past two years, tax increases have seen an increasing number of smokers in Spain “trade down” to rolling tobacco, or cheaper black, as opposed to Virginia, tobacco brands.

Another option for the hard-pressed Spanish smoker has been to try a fresh wave of Chinese-manufactured bootleg cigarettes that have become increasingly common, or to buy contraband.

Jump to full article »

• 600,000 people kick the habit in first year of Spain's extended smoking legislation 

Around 600,000 people have given up smoking since Spain’s tougher smoking legislation, which bans smoking in all closed public spaces, came into force on January 2, 2011. The CNPT National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking says that 500,000 fewer packets of cigarettes have been sold during that time.

They said in their provisional results released on Tuesday that hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction have dropped by 10% and for asthma attacks in children by 15%.

The Committee notes that the legislation has not had a negative effect on bars and restaurants, nor on tourism which rose by 7% in 2011. Compliance with the law is high, and ‘it has been accepted by the Spanish as if it were natural, apart from some isolated incidents’, they said.

Jump to full article »

• Expats offered rewards for information about tobacco smugglers 

BRITISH expats are being offered cash rewards for information about suspected tobacco smugglers.

The HM Revenue & Customs campaign aims to clamp down on illegal imports of cigarettes to Spain - many of which come via the Gibraltar border.

Around 225 million cigarettes and several tonnes of tobacco destined for the UK have been seized in Spain over the last year.

Jump to full article »

Spain Busts Fake Cigarette Racket 

The Spanish government has confiscated 561,000 fake cigarettes, which were imported from China and were paving their way into the Spanish market through the port of Valencia. The cigarettes were being transported in a container marked "synthetic fiber".

China is the hub of fake cigarette dealers and they are mostly traded online. The trade of illegal cigarette products in large quantities on the internet has also increased dramatically, casting a huge shadow over the lawful cigarette trade in the country.

In November 2011, China Police busted around 122 criminal dens and arrested 78 suspects, following a raid in nine regions to crack a bogus cigarette manufacturing ring. Fake cigarettes were usually produced and stored in city outskirts and disguised as normal goods for delivery, with fake cargo and ownership details.

Puffing the fake cigarettes in large quantities or for a prolonged time will inevitably leave the smokers vulnerable to serious health damages. As per the lab findings of "The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project" fake cigarettes from China are reported to contain 80% more nicotine and 130% more carbon monoxide, and impurities harmful for health.

Jump to full article »