I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners, who are responsible for the collection of tobacco products tax, and for tackling the illicit trade in cigarettes and tobacco products, that the following table sets out the information requested by the Deputy in respect of the period 1 January 2012 to 19 October 2012.
|
2012
|
No. of seizures
|
Quantity
|
|
Cigarettes
|
6,670
|
90.2 million
|
|
Tobacco
|
1,132
|
3,828 kgs
|
The above figures include illicit tobacco products seized by An Garda Síochána and transferred under agreed procedures to Revenue custody.
The Commissioners inform me that in the absence of information specific to each case, it is not possible to state categorically the individual country in which a particular seizure of cigarettes was manufactured. There were eight significant cargo seizures of cigarettes so far this year. One of these seizures was consigned to Ireland from Vietnam. The other seven seizures were consigned from ports in other EU states and consequently it is not possible to determine the origin of the cigarettes in these cases. In addition to these large individual detections, the figures in the Table above include a significant number of smaller seizures of regular brand cigarettes purchased in countries that have a comparatively low tobacco tax rate. These seizures are from air and sea passengers arriving in the State.
In general, information available to Revenue and international enforcement agencies, including OLAF, the European Commission Anti-Fraud Office, indicates that South-East Asia, and China in particular, are the source of manufacture of large quantities of illicit cigarettes.
The Deputy will appreciate that by its nature it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the monetary value to those involved in shadow economy activities such as the smuggling and sale of illicit cigarettes. Neither is it possible to provide an estimate of the cost to legitimate retailers from the illicit cigarette trade. As regards the cost to the Exchequer, I can inform the Deputy that in the most recent survey carried out on behalf of Revenue and the National Tobacco Control Office, it was estimated that the volume of illicit cigarettes consumed in 2011 was 770m, resulting in a loss of approximately €258m (excise duty + VAT).
I can assure the Deputy there is strong co-operation between all relevant Departments and offices on an ongoing basis in relation to formulating and implementing policy. This includes co-operation between the Revenue Commissioners, An Garda Síochána, Departments of Finance, Health and other relevant Departments. At an operational level there is strong co-operation between all agencies involved in the fight against the illicit tobacco trade including between the Revenue Commissioners, An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau at a national level. Also at an international level there is ongoing co-operation between the relevant Irish agencies and the European Commission Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), HM Revenue & Customs and other UK agencies, and with other Customs Administrations.
As regards additional recommendations contained in Retail Ireland's report on Tackling the Black Market and Retail Crime, the need for such measures are kept under review by the agencies with responsibilities in this regard.
