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November 3rd, 2012:

Hong Kong cracks down on cigarette smuggling ring

Search term: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20183182?print=true

Cigarettes were distributed in Hong Kong’s many public housing estates

Customs officials in Hong Kong have cracked down on a smuggling ring that delivered contraband cigarettes to its clients’ homes.

Officers have arrested 119 people and seized 3m untaxed cigarettes, worth almost $1m (£575,000).

The group had turned to home deliveries after a clamp-down on stores selling illicit cigarettes.

It had been handing out fliers in Hong Kong’s public housing estates.

Wan Hing-chuen, a divisional commander at the territory’s Customs and Excise Department, said the operation had been run from a warehouse and distribution centres.

“It’s very easy because in Hong Kong there are so many public housing estates, they just employ a few persons to deliver the leaflets,” he said.

The cigarettes were being sold at less than half the typical retail price.

So far this year Hong Kong customs officers have seized 55 million cigarettes and broken up more than 200 distribution centres.

Under Hong Kong law, people found guilty of buying or selling untaxed cigarettes face a fine of up to HK$1m($130,000, £80,000) and up to two years in prison.

  • From other news sites

·        South China Morning Post* Eviction threat to cigarette smugglers on public housing estates 17 hrs ago

·        Huffington Post 119 Arrested In Illegal Smokes Ring Crackdown 17 hrs ago

·        CNBC Hong Kong arrests 119 in dial-a-smoke crackdown 21 hrs ago

·        Khaleej Times HK arrests cigarettes smugglers 24 hrs ago

INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING BODY ON A PROTOCOL ON ILLICIT TRADE IN TOBACCO PRODUCTS

Download PDF : FCTC_COP_INB-IT5_REC1

New protocol proposed to address illicit trade in tobacco products

‘The Protocol will be submitted for consideration and adoption to the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in November 2012.’

New protocol proposed to address illicit trade in tobacco products

A key moment for global tobacco-control efforts

Note for the media

4 April 2012 | Geneva –After four years of negotiations, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), with the participation of over 135 countries, agreed on a text of a Protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products.

“This is a historic moment for global tobacco-control efforts, as this is the first protocol under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)”, says Mr Ian Walton-George, Chairman of the INB. “By agreeing to this Protocol, governments have reiterated their commitment to protect public health and tackle illicit trade in tobacco products.”

Combating illicit trade in tobacco

The Protocol sets the rules for combating illicit trade in tobacco products through control of the supply chain. It also establishes what constitutes unlawful conduct and sets out related enforcement and international cooperation measures.

Under the Protocol, the Parties propose to establish a global tracking and tracing system for tobacco products and reached agreement on other measures, such as licensing, liability, enforcement, information-sharing and mutual legal assistance. These measures are designed to counteract and eventually eliminate the illicit trade in tobacco products.

Illicit trade increases the accessibility and affordability of tobacco products, thus contributing to the spread of the tobacco epidemic; it is a global problem with serious consequences for health. It also undermines national economies and the tobacco-control policies of governments. The Protocol builds upon and complements Article 15 of the WHO FCTC.

The Protocol will be submitted for consideration and adoption to the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in November 2012.

Once adopted, it would become the first Protocol to the WHO FCTC, which is itself the first and only global health treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO. The Protocol will enter into force after 40 ratifications.

It was also agreed that the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC will serve as the Secretariat of the Protocol.

Note to editors

The WHO FCTC was adopted by the World Health Assembly on 21 May 2003 and entered into force on 27 February 2005. It has since become one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations history, with 174 Parties to date.

The INB was established by the Conference of the Parties in 2007 and has held five sessions since then to complete the negotiations, in addition to extensive inter-sessional work to support those negotiations.

For more information, please contact:

Mr Tarik Jasarevic
Communication Officer
Department of Communications, WHO
Mobile: +41 793 676 214
Telephone: +41 22 791 5099
E-mail: jasarevict@who.int

Taxation (including smuggling control)

http://www.who.int/tobacco/training/success_stories/taxation/en/index.html

Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI)

Taxation (including smuggling control)

Evidence from low-, middle- and high-income countries shows that increase in price of tobacco products is effective in reducing the demand. Higher prices induce tobacco users to quit and prevent other individuals from starting. They also reduce the number of ex-tobacco users who take up tobacco again, and reduce consumption among continuing consumers Children and adolescents are more responsive to price increases than older adults.

Tobacco smuggling has become a critical public health issue because it brings tobacco into markets cheaply, making cigarettes more affordable and thus stimulating consumption. Smuggling control requires a co-ordinated action between different government institutions.

A case study in, Hong Kong on this subject are forthcoming.

Tobacco smuggling

Download PDF : ASH_122

Hong Kong officials arrest 119, seize 3M smuggled cigarettes in dial-a-smoke crackdown

http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/e9b522ed6e8f457fbf5bc7428b402e50/AS-Hong-Kong-Cigarette-Busts

HONG KONG — Hong Kong authorities said Friday that they had arrested 119 people and seized 3 million untaxed cigarettes after cracking down on smugglers running home delivery services of the illicit smokes.

Customs officials said smuggling groups came up with the novel way of evading detection after a clampdown on stores selling illicit cigarettes. Fliers sent to residents in Hong Kong’s numerous public housing estates advertised the cut rate smokes for order by telephone, with delivery in one to two days.

One flier advertised cartons of Marlboro cigarettes at HK$200-HK$240 ($26-$31) per carton — or less than half the typical retail price in Hong Kong.

Wan Hing-chuen, a divisional commander at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, said the crackdown on the stores had forced smugglers to change their “mode of delivery.”

“It’s very easy because in Hong Kong there are so many public housing estates, they just employ a few persons to deliver the leaflets,” said Wan, adding that the smugglers rented warehouses or apartments to use as distribution centers.

The arrests and seizures in 96 separate cases were carried out from April to October, Wan said. Among those arrested were 61 buyers, including seven senior citizens, he said. Some 41 vehicles were also seized, including some trucks involved in involved in smuggling the cigarettes into Hong Kong from mainland China.

The seized cigarettes were worth 7.2 million Hong Kong dollars ($930,000) and were liable for unpaid duties of HK$5.2 million, Wan said.

He said that in the first 10 months of 2012, it seized 55 million illicit cigarettes worth HK$135 million ($17.4 million) and broke up 208 distribution centers.

Under Hong Kong law, people found guilty of buying or selling untaxed cigarettes face a fine of up to HK$1 million ($130,000) and up to two years in prison.

ANTI-CONTRABAND AND ANTI-COUNTERFEITAGREEMENT AND GENERAL RELEASE

Download PDF : ASH_242

Budget submission from ASH and the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies

Download PDF : ASH_840

ASH 801

A report by Howard Reed of Landman Economics for Action on
Smoking and Health

Download PDF : ASH_801

Eviction threat to cigarette smugglers on public housing estates

SCMP

Submitted by admin on Nov 3rd 2012, 12:00am

News›Hong Kong

CRIME

Clifford Lo clifford.lo@scmp.com

Public housing estate tenants who place phone orders for contraband cigarettes to be delivered to their homes may face eviction if arrested and convicted, a senior customs officer said.

Wan Hing-chuen, divisional commander of the customs services’ anti-illicit-cigarette investigation unit, issued the warning after a task force detected 96 phone-order cases.

As a result 119 people, aged between 18 and 73, were arrested over the past seven months. They included 61 tobacco buyers, of which 56 were public housing tenants. The others were traffickers and delivery workers.

A total of 88 were convicted of either buying or selling illicit tobacco. The maximum penalty is a HK$1 million fine and a two-year prison sentence.

Wan said that if public housing flats were found to be involved in illegal cigarette activities, customs would notify the Housing Department for follow-up action.

“Penalty marks may be awarded and tenancies may even be liable to termination under the Housing Department’s marking scheme for estate management enforcement,” he said.

The marking scheme, introduced in 2003, covers 28 misdeeds, each of which carries three, five, seven or 15 penalty points according to the degree of seriousness. If a tenant accrues 16 points within two years, the tenancy is liable for termination.

Topics:

Crime

Eviction

cigarette smugglers

public housing estates


Source URL (retrieved on Nov 3rd 2012, 5:48am): http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1074761/eviction-threat-cigarette-smugglers-public-housing-estates