The article reproduced below in html if from the FCA Bulletin 97 p.3 (pdf format). It is by Trina Tune.
The illicit tobacco trade in Togo is depriving the West African nation of millions of dollars, according to a recent ANCE-Togo report.
The report on tobacco smuggling between Togo and Benin found that between 2003 and 2007 illicit trade deprived Togo’s economy of about 5 billion CFA francs in duties and taxes, roughly equivalent to US$10 million.
Most of this illicit trade is smuggled into Togo via sea routes, waterways and by land with the borders of Hilla Condji, Agbanakin, Agouegan and Djeta (between Togo and Benin) and the borders of Aflao or Kodome (between Togo and Ghana) seeing the most activity.
Cigarettes are cheap and readily available in Togo. They should be relatively scarce and expensive, however, based on the country’s high duties and taxes on tobacco products (representing approximately 63.75 per cent of their CIF value at import).
This contradiction led the National Consumers and Environmental Alliance (ANCE) to conduct a preliminary study into illicit tobacco trade in Togo.
The Framework Convention Alliance Opportunity Grant 2009, managed by the American Cancer Society, funded the research.
The report also found that perpetrators and cigarette smuggling accomplices in Togo and Benin are distribution and cigarette sale companies, distributors and large international tobacco firms.
CiGARETTE COUNTERFEITING INVOLVES several brands such as Superkings, Royal and Fine, in particular.
This illicit trade represents about 16 per cent of the tobacco trade in Togo and Benin.
There is NO APPROPRIATE LEGISLATION , no specialised agencies or effective means of illicit tobacco trade control in the countries investigated.
ANCE-Togo will use the report to promote sustainable development and improve people’s health in Togo plus provide information on the country’s illicit tobacco trade.
The report presents a series of recommendations in three main areas: promoting customs co-operation; reinforcing the legal and institutional framework of control; and encouraging the follow-up and traceability of tobacco.
Trina Tune
For more information, download the full report (pdf format).
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