illicit-trade-wco-2013

Table 9. Survey response results
North of Africa, West and East and South America, Europe Far East, South
Near and Central Southern North America, and South East Asia
Middle East Africa Africa Central America Australasia and
and the Caribbean
the Pacific Islands
Total number 17 23 24 31 51 33
of countries
Number of 2 4 9 12 41 12
responses
The survey results evidenced a general interest from
Members in ratifying the Protocol. In the run up to the
ratification, respondents indicated that the most
prominent leading authority was the Ministry of Health.
Nevertheless, Customs would potentially be more
involved in the process of implementing the Protocol
after it enters into force.
The majority of Members declared that they had
access to statistics regarding the domestic production
and consumption of tobacco and that they were able
to track and trace the supply chain of tobacco
products, mostly by using their Customs declaration
systems.
On the one hand, a high number of Customs
administrations indicated that they had a possibility to
maintain records of imports and exports of tobacco
products and tobacco manufacturing equipment. On
the other hand, the majority of respondents pointed out
that they did not have information concerning the
domestic production of tobacco manufacturing
equipment. With regards to retail sales of tobacco
products via the Internet, the survey showed that they
were allowed in a large number of jurisdictions.
administrative laws in a great number of countries,
but only half of the respondents indicated to have
the authority/procedure in place to conduct “controlled
deliveries”.
The vast majority of Customs administrations replied
that they had the legal authority to share information
related to the supply chain of tobacco products with
other administrations.
Most countries responded that they considered the
counterfeiting and smuggling of cigarettes as a high
priority. As to the capability to evaluate the size and
the scale of the revenue losses associated with this
criminal phenomenon, only half of the participants
replied positively.
Concerning the questions related to control provisions
on the manufacturing and transactions of tobacco
products in free zones, 33 countries indicated the
existence of a system of control, while 22 countries
confirmed that that a system was in place, but was not
necessarily effective.
Seizure of 3,000,000 cigarettes declared with a false HS code
Photo courtesy of Uganda Customs
The majority of administrations replied positively to the
question concerning the existence of a control system
for recording duty free sales of tobacco products and
for the supply of tobacco products in ship stores.
Results also evidenced that the illicit trafficking of
tobacco products is subject to both criminal and
90