Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that illicit cigarettes do not make their way into the UK.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Border Force have a comprehensive joint strategy, Tackling illicit tobacco: From leaf to light, to tackle illicit cigarettes. This has been highly effective in reducing the illicit cigarette trade from 22% in 2000-01 to 9% in 2020-21. Between 2015-16 and 2020-21, HMRC and Border Force have seized around 7.8 billion cigarettes destined for the UK. The UK is also a signatory to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and works with overseas partners to tackle the supply of illicit cigarettes upstream.