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SMOKING KILLS,
COUNTERFEIT TOBACCO
EVEN WORST!
source: pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/
esthag-w/2004/dec/science/bb_
cigarettes.html
www.brazilcouncil.org/usermedia/
MediaLibrary/Counterfeiting_and
_Piracy_in_Brazil.pdf.
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As if smoking isn’t risky enough, people who smoke ‘counterfeit’ cigarettes are exposed to increased concentrations of nicotine, carbon monoxide, heavy metals…- smokers who are tricked into buying fake cigarettes don't get the product they're expecting. In a recent BBC documentary, for example, counterfeit cigarettes were reported to have "75% more tar, 28% more nicotine and about 63% more carbon monoxide" than genuine cigarettes in the UK market, and many were even "contaminated with sand and other packaging materials such as bits of plastic";
- counterfeit cigarettes, which are packaged to mimic legitimate brands, accounted for 5% of 2000–2001 sales in the United Kingdom and substantially more in subsequent years. According to a research carried out by the University of St Andrews (Scotland), people who smoke ‘counterfeit’ cigarettes are exposed to increased concentrations of heavy metals, including the human carcinogens, cadmium, nickel, and arsenic, according to research recently posted to ES&T’s Research ASAP website; (1)
- the trade in counterfeit cigarettes is a rapidly growing global problem. According to the World Customs Organization, in China, 190 billion counterfeit cigarettes are produced each year, making it a major source country for European-destined fakes. Published news reports state that in the first six months of 2002 alone the Chinese authorities dealt with 159,000 cases involving the production and sale of counterfeit cigarettes, and that government authorities in China have spent over US$190 million fighting counterfeit in recent years, seizing more than 5,000 cigarette-making machines, but that their efforts are still failing; (2)
- according to the World Customs Organization, although Chinese authorities shut down more than 2,400 underground cigarette factories in 1999, there are no indications that the counterfeit trade has been negatively affected. In the province of Fujian, for example, some producers are highly automated and can turn out 3 billion fake cigarettes a year.
- counterfeiting factories have also been discovered in various countries throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America. Customs authorities across the EU seize several million packs of counterfeit cigarettes every year; (3)
- according to the World Customs Organization, contraband cigarettes comprise one of the most lucrative organised crime sectors in Europe. The four most significant contraband markets are in Italy, Britain, Germany and Spain;
- Italy is estimated to lose €4.0 billion (US$4.8 billion) a year in evaded cigarette taxes. Cigarette smuggling is estimated to cost the British treasury €3.9 billion (£2.58 billion) a year in lost tobacco tax revenues; German tax losses are estimated at €230 million (about US$277 million) a year; Spain is estimated to lose €208 million (about US$250 million) in lost tax revenues per year;
- in the United States, counterfeit cigarettes enter on shipboard containers, via Mexico, and through Internet mail-order, primarily from China. In 2003, cigarettes headed the list of counterfeit seizures, with a domestic value of US$41.7 million, according to US Customs and Border Protection;
- Brazil is flooded with counterfeit cigarettes. In 2003, these illegal cigarettes represented 34% of the volume of cigarettes sold per year, jumping from 5% of the market in 1991 and 20% in 1995. Approximately 51 billion cigarettes are sold illegally every year in the Brazilian market out of a total of 150 billion cigarettes sold per year, mainly originating in Paraguay. Brazil would net US$500 million a year in lost cigarette tax revenue if counterfeiting were eliminated;
(1) W. Edryd Stephen, University of St Andrews (Scotland) is the author of the research (as reported in Science News - December 15, 2004). In the ES&T study, Stephens measured concentrations of metals in 47 counterfeit cigarettes that British Customs and Excise had seized. The metal concentrations were compared with levels in the eight genuine brands of cigarettes they mimicked. Cadmium levels in the counterfeits averaged 3.0 milligrams per kilogram, compared with 0.6 in genuine brands. Arsenic and lead levels were also consistently higher; [ pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2004/dec/science/bb_cigarettes.html]
(2) China People’s Daily, 2002 and Murray, 2000.
(3) European Anti-Fraud Office 2003; Michael 2003; Pakistan Newswire 2003; Knight 2000, p. 23; Smith 2003.
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