Jump to full article: NewsEdge, 2010-01-21
Author: Jim Onyango Jan 20, 2010 (Business Daily/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)
Intro: A new protocol to be discussed and signed by governments at a meeting in Geneva in March is expected to boost the war on illicit trade in tobacco products as it will make it possible for countries to disclose bank accounts of suspected smugglers.
Smugglers in east Africa are suspected to use their wide networks stretching across the war ravaged Somalia and DR Congo to peddle illicit tobacco products through the porous borders and escaping tax in the process and accumulating revenues which are deposited in several banks across the region.
If signed by governments attending the Geneva meeting, the protocol is expected to become an international convention to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products across the globe.
The draft protocol, to be debated in Geneva in March, could prohibit manufacturers across the globe from using the internet, telecommunications or any other evolving technology based modes to sell tobacco products or manufacturing equipment used in the production of cigarettes.
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Mr Collin Denyer, a senior investigations manager at tobacco giant BAT, told an anti counterfeit meeting in Nairobi late last year that the Kenya government was losing upwards of Sh1 billion in revenue because of sale of fake cigarettes.
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