WINTER 2021 ILLEGAL TOBACCO STUBBING IT OUT Local Trading Standards are looking to ramp up efforts to detect and tackle illicit cigarette and tobacco sales, and want information on dodgy traders You hear from local retailers that their tobacco sales are falling after a new shop has opened in the vicinity; you see empty cigarette packs on the ground with foreign warnings and not in plain packaging; people come into your shop and ask for cheap cigarettes. These can be the tell-tale signs that a shop nearby is selling cigarettes or tobacco at probably less than half the price at which legitimate sellers can offer these products. So what exactly are they selling? Usually, its counterfeit cigarettes or tobacco, or duty-diverted products that are concealed as they are moved across borders and sold to shops happy to peddle these illicit products. Its a lucrative business traders can make a good profit on a packet they are selling for just 5 or 6. HMRC has funded local authorities for Trading Standards enforcement teams to inspect such shops, detect sales, and seize cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco There are health implications, too. While all tobacco products have a detrimental effect on users health, no guarantee of quality control can be provided for counterfeit products, so buyers can, potentially, be taking a greater risk. Consecutive governments have brought in legislation and implemented higher taxes on tobacco products in a bid to make them less attractive to users and young people, who may be tempted into smoking, and to prevent long-term health problems that continue to place a significant burden on the NHS. These measures, however, have made the potential rewards for selling illicit tobacco even more attractive to counterfeiters and smugglers. Nonetheless, action to detect and prevent such sales of illegal tobacco products continues. HMRC has funded local authorities for Trading Standards enforcement teams to inspect such shops, detect sales, and seize cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco, and even shisha (tobacco used in water pipes). Every authority in the Midlands area (CEnTSA authorities) has undertaken some work to detect and disrupt sales. Detection dogs are employed to help find the tobacco products, which are often concealed around retail units to try to prevent seizure. You can view online what Walsall Trading Standards discovered recently during its crackdown on illicit tobacco sales in the area seizing around 112,000 illegal cigarettes and 39kg of hand-rolling tobacco, with an estimated street value of 85,000. Wolverhampton Trading Standards also found a quarter of a million illegal cigarettes in a shipping container in June, taking its annual seizures up to half a million tobacco products. These actions are part of Operation CeCe, a National Trading Standards initiative, in partnership with HMRC, to tackle illegal tobacco. Credit: Andrew Tandy, Trading Standards Officer / Stuart Powell, Trading Standards Officer Image: iStock / solidcolours You can play your part, too. If you are aware of local traders who you think are affecting your trade by selling counterfeit or foreign-labelled cigarettes or handrolling tobacco, let us know by contacting the anonymous hotline on 0300 303 2636 and telling your local Trading Standards team as much as you know. WATCH OUT FOR ILLEGAL ALCOHOL Trading Standards officers have recently reported a growing trend in the sale of illegal alcohol, particularly counterfeit vodka and wine. Any alcohol that is not supplied via a legitimate supplier is likely to be illegal either an illicit unknown brand, counterfeit, or a genuine product that has been smuggled into the country or stolen. As well as misleading customers, creating unfair competition for legitimate traders, funding organised crime, and causing UK tax losses, counterfeit and illicit brands are likely to have been produced with little or no regard for safety, and can cause anything from nausea to blindness and even death. To ensure you dont put your business or the health of your customers at risk this Christmas, there are a number of simple tips you can follow to avoid illegal alcohol: Remember the 4 Ps: place, price, packaging and product Place Only deal with reputable suppliers and get proper invoices. Cash-and-carry businesses have been known to deal in illicit alcohol, so you must still check. Keep all invoices, as it is a requirement to show full traceability. Never buy alcohol from anyone who brings the goods to the shop the drink will undoubtedly be illegal in some way. Also, control your stock so you can be sure where goods come from for example, mark boxes of alcohol with the supplier and date of purchase. Be careful about accepting returns from customers who have changed their minds. Price If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. Packaging Check the label: where possible, compare it with a bottle that you know is genuine. Warning signs include poor printing or spelling errors on the label, poor-quality label/alignment, overstuck labels, and foreign labelling. Check, too, whether the case has been resealed. If spirits are sold in cases that have been resealed or have UK Duty Paid crossed through, dont buy them. Also, check that individual bottle caps are properly sealed; even if the alcohol is genuine, it could have been tampered with. Spirits in bottles that are 35cl or larger and 30 per cent ABV or higher are required to have a UK Duty stamp. The stamp will glow white, yellow or green when UV light is shone on it, and it should not reflect blue/violet. Ultraviolet (UV) lights are easy and cheap to buy, and checking your stock with such a light is a sensible precaution. Look out for fake barcodes scan the code to see if its listed as the correct product. Product Look out for fake versions of well-known brands, and be wary of unusual brand names you havent seen before. Vodka, the most commonly counterfeited spirit, shouldnt have any white particles or sediment in the bottle. If it does, the vodka could have been diluted with tap water. If you are offered illegal alcohol, you should report it to Trading Standards by calling the confidential fakes hotline on 0300 303 2636 or by using the online reporting system. For further information, please contact your local Trading Standards Service