In a pan-Wales first, Police forces across the nation have joined to help tackle the illegal tobacco market.
Training has been launched to deliver guidance on how to address the illegal market, and in turn protect communities and public health. The training is being rolled out to police forces across the nation.
Last year, 2.8 million illegal cigarettes and nearly half a ton of illegal hand-rolling tobacco was seized off the illegal market in Wales.
Police forces throughout Wales have joined together in multi-agency drive to help tackle the illegal tobacco market. The initiative has been spearheaded by the Welsh Government, who have advocated a whole-system approach to disrupting illegal tobacco in Wales.
Illegal tobacco is a serious problem in communities across Wales, as it gives children access to cheap tobacco and brings crime into our communities.
In 2021, over 3 million illegal cigarettes were confiscated in Wales. This haul consisted of 2.8 million illegal cigarettes and nearly half a ton of illegal rolling tobacco. The combined street value of both have been estimated to sit in the region of ¾ million pounds.
In a Wales first, the Welsh Government have launched training for all police forces across Wales. The training is being led by Welsh Trading Standards, who with the support of HMRC, are at the forefront of action to disrupt the illegal tobacco market. The aim is to unite agencies, establish a new Wales-wide reporting system, and encourage a streamlined approach to tackling illegal tobacco.
The move has been hailed as progressive by the tobacco control organisation ASH Cymru, who have campaigned for strengthened approach to illicit sales in Wales. Suzanne CEO of ASH Cymru said:
“This united approach from Wales is exactly what we need to drive illegal sales out of our communities and keep our young people safe from the harms of tobacco. It will reinforce the solid work already carried out by HMRC and Trading Standards teams and provide a robust reporting system in Wales.
“We know illegal tobacco harms health, communities and is a gateway for children to start smoking. The impact of this new multi-agency approach will be far reaching and will enable Wales to disrupt the market from all angles, and in turn protect public health.”
In 2014, ASH Cymru commissioned the very first survey to assess the scale of the illegal market in Wales. The survey revealed:
- Illegal tobacco makes up 15% of the entire tobacco market in Wales.
- 1 in 4 Welsh smokers were classified as ‘illicit buyers’.
- Almost half (45%) of current Welsh smokers had been offered the sale of illegal tobacco, with 14% of smokers “often” being approached by illegal sellers.
In addition to high prevalence in Wales, the illegal market has been reported to feed into other areas of crime, with some reports outlining links with gangs, drugs and human- trafficking. In 2015, A report published by HMRC outlined that the illegal market also harms legitimate business, and costs the UK taxpayer over £2 billion in lost revenues each year.
Roger Mapleson, Lead Officer for Trading Standards Wales on Tobacco, highlights how the new police training can impact Wales. He said: “Police officers regularly encounter stocks of illegal tobacco as a by-product of action taken against other criminality.
“This training will give officers the knowledge to recognise it and the confidence to know how to deal with it. It is really important to capitalise on every opportunity to disrupt the supply and not miss opportunities.”
As part of the Welsh Government’s strengthened approach to illegal tobacco, a new reporting website has been launched, which will be the new centralised reporting system in Wales. Reports of illegal sellers can be made anonymously, which can be submitted by the public and the police. Reports will be fed back to relevant local authorities in Wales.
The reporting website highlights how to identify illegal tobacco, and what to look out for. This includes:
- ‘Cheap whites’, which are mass produced in one country and smuggled into another.
- Cheap genuine tobacco smuggled into the UK with no-duty paid (packages often display foreign languages and a lack of health warnings).
- Cigarettes sold individually instead of in packets.
- Counterfeits or fakes, which look like well-known brands but are made illegally.
John Griffiths MS, Chair of the Cross Party Group on Smoking and Health, echoed support for the Welsh Government’s new approach to the illegal tobacco. He said: “The police training and the new reporting system will allow Wales to tackle the illegal landscape from new avenues, which will help support the already strong disruption activity in Wales.
“To help these efforts, I would urge people across Wales to report illegal tobacco via the new reporting website. This would ensure that the illegal market is kept firmly out of our communities.”
To anonymously report illegal tobacco in your area, the reporting website can be found at: www.noifs-nobutts.co.uk
References
- Latest Trading Standards and HMRC disruption figures can be found here.
- First pan-Wales illegal tobacco survey conducted by ASH Wales and NEMS (2014), can be found here.
- For further reading (definition of illegal tobacco and its effects on Wales), please see here.
- Links to how illegal tobacco feeds into other areas of crime, can be found here, here and here.
- HMRC Report, ‘Tackling illicit tobacco: From leaf to light’ can be found here.
- The new illegal tobacco reporting website can be found here.
- Case studies relaying the human impact of the illegal market can be found here
