Volume 1
The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee
- Date:
- 2000
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![quickly”, following work undertaken with the Andorran and Spanish authorities by the European Commission’s anti-fraud organization.*” 204. When it was put to Mr Wilson of Gallaher that his company’s annual report had noted the increase in sales to Andorra and that he must have been aware that illegal smuggling had been occurring, he said that “of course” he was aware of that, but that he was “delighted when the authorities... [stopped] it, but they stopped the smuggling, not us, as we were not doing anything illegal. I was very unhappy about it. I deplore smuggling.” He also said that his company had helped the authorities’ investigations.** The Amber Leaf Briefing 205. Mr Wilson’s robust stance against smuggling is to be welcomed, but it is undermined by the fact that the advertising agency employed on Gallaher’s behalf was basing part of its strategy for one product - Amber Leaf hand rolling tobacco - on sales to bootleggers. The “Amber Leaf Briefing” prepared by M&C Saatchi and obtained by the Committee discusses “Trial through bootleggers” and describes “Adoption by bootleggers” as a key issue.*** In oral evidence Mr Moray MacLennan of M&C Saatchi, told us that “Everyone is concerned about smuggling because it is the chief reason for more young smoking in the last two years”.*** He went on to say that the briefing document suggested that “what is being forced to happen in certain instances, because of the lack of control of smuggling in this country ... is that the tobacco companies, yes, are targeting legal distribution methods, some of which are on the continent. They sell it through legal distribution. Because of the lack of enforcement here in terms of smuggling, a lot of that finds its way back into this country through illegal distribution ... I think that really the onus is on the Government not the tobacco manufacturers” .*°° 206. Mr Wilson told us that ““The tragedy and the extraordinary thing about this whole situation is that we are here faced in the United Kingdom with the fact that four out of every five packets of hand rolling tobacco that are consumed in this country are sourced from outside this country. That is 80 per cent of the market sourced from outside the United Kingdom, predominantly Belgium and Holland. This is a direct consequence of the enormously high duty attaching to hand rolling tobacco here compared with Belgium. I think it is five times higher in this country than it is in Belgium. As a consequence, a pouch of hand rolling tobacco in this country which costs close to eight pounds will be available in Belgium for two pounds. That has led to a situation where 80 per cent of the market is sourced from outside this country and it leads to the ridiculous situation where the only way that you can develop distribution for a brand in this country is by making it available in Belgium” °°” 207. It seems that although Mr Wilson thinks it is a “tragedy” that hand rolling tobacco is smuggled into the country, his company works on the basis that it is prepared to sell to markets on the continent, aware of the knowledge that the goods will be smuggled back into this country; indeed not only are they aware, but their advertisers appear to deliberately frame their strategy to appeal to the criminals undertaking the smuggling. Gallaher’s stance that they deplore smuggling appears to be contradicted by their advertising which seems to want to court those doing the smuggling. Gallaher noted in its evidence to us that smuggled tobacco gives children access to tobacco. If they genuinely believe that this and the other problems associated with smuggled tobacco are a “tragedy”, they should make sure that all their business practices and those of their advertisers work against the illegal trade rather than encourage it. Allegations regarding BAT and smuggling 208. During our inquiry serious allegations concerning BAT’s involvement in international smuggling operations were made in the Guardian newspaper. While it was not claimed that BAT carried out the smuggling itself, it stated that “British American Tobacco condoned tax evasion and exploited the smuggling of billions of cigarettes in a global effort to boost sales and lure generations of new smokers”’.3*® 352 Lome Affairs Committee, Minutes of Evidence, 25 May 1999, The Work of HM Customs & Excise: Matters Relating to Crime, HC478, QQ131- 32. 353.9Q1059-1060. 34 By, p.309. , S575: 33©9Q776-77. 35791054.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32221083_0001_0066.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
