Tobacco: controversy over the reality of illicit sales


Thousands of cartons of counterfeit cigarettes seized by customs in Paris in February 2020. Alain Guilhot/Divergence

According to the annual report of the firm KPMG, in one year the counterfeiting of cigarettes has exploded in France.

In one year, counterfeit cigarettes have exploded in France. Last year, it represented more than 15% of total cigarette consumption, up 33%, according to the annual report by KPMG, commissioned by Philip Morris International (PMI). The counterfeit packages mainly bore the flagship brand of this giant, the one that is the most sold in the world: Marlboro. France thus holds the record among its European neighbours.

For Philip Morris, this phenomenon results from the increase in taxation on tobacco, the pack of cigarettes having now crossed the symbolic threshold of 10 euros. Far from producing the expected effect, namely lowering smoking prevalence (25.5%), the tax increase would have boosted illicit trade and represented significant losses for the State. Thus, 6.22 billion in tax revenue would have been lost in 2021, or 1.93 billion more compared to 2020, according to KPMG. “It is worrying to note that in France the fact of establishing…

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