With the next session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (MOP4) scheduled for this November in Geneva, the duty free industry has been gathering information and preparing evidence to use to safeguard the sale of tobacco products in the channel. The stakeholders in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control continue to attack the sale of duty free tobacco as a major source of illicit trade, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
In an online press briefing held by the Duty Free World Council (DFWC) and other industry stakeholders last week, the organizations revealed that they have been engaging with customs authorities around the world to determine the effectiveness of the duty free market’s security and transparency as part of its efforts to defend the channel from the allegations.
“We’ve received customs feedback from a significant number of markets already confirming that in their view, duty free is secure, transparent and a trusted retail channel, and is not linked to the illicit trade in tobacco,” commented DFWC President Sarah Branquinho during the media briefing.
In addition, DFWC has completed a new study on illicit trade in tobacco. Compiled by York Aviation, the study highlights three key findings;
Genuine duty-free products account for only 0.067% of global illicit tobacco trade. This number is slightly less than that tracked during the DFWC’s study conducted in 2023.
A single clandestine factory produces nearly twice as much illicit tobacco as that accounted for by all genuine duty free products.
Illicit manufacturers fraudulently mislabeling their products as duty free results in significant damage to the legitimate sector.
Support for the initiative is broad based across all categories. The duty free channel is an extremely effective shop window to the international market, and the WHO accusations are attacking the integrity of the market.
“It’s about defending the integrity of our market against global criminality,” commented one of the spokespeople.
DFWC’s Branquinho concluded the presentation stressing the importance of the industry’s Duty Free: Trusted, Transparent, Secure campaign, which looks to raise awareness of the issue of illicit trade, counterfeiting and intellectual property theft, and thanking the retailers around the world who have been assisting the campaign.
For more information, go to https://dfworldcouncil.com/
