Tobacco: Smuggling

(asked on 18th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has for the tobacco track and trace system at the end of the sell-through period on 20 May 2020.


Answered by
Kemi Badenoch Portrait
Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
This question was answered on 22nd May 2020

At the end of the transition period, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will need to make some changes to the tobacco track and trace system for it to continue to operate. The changes will be kept to the minimum necessary to enable the UK to have full regulatory control.

The government has not made an assessment of the potential effect on levels of counterfeit goods of a suspension of the track and trace system as it remains committed to having a system in place at the end of the transition period.

The government has no plans to make any changes to the end of the sell through period. From 20 May 2020, all cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco manufactured in or imported into the UK must be marked with a unique identifier code and security label. Businesses with any unmarked stock after this date should return it in accordance with the existing procedures they have in place with their suppliers.

Product which fails to comply with the requirements after the sell through period will be liable to forfeiture. Where HMRC is satisfied that a business is not complying with the requirements it may issue a notice for the business to remedy any non-compliance.

To promote and assess compliance across the tobacco supply chain, HMRC has been working with tobacco manufacturers, retailers and relevant trade bodies to make them aware of their requirements and the sell through period. A key indicator of industry compliance is the high volume of businesses registered to use the system. As of the end of April, over 42,000 economic operators and approximately 65,000 premises were registered on the system.

It would not be appropriate for HMRC to publish detailed information about their operational response during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the public can be assured that HMRC will support legitimate businesses and individuals while taking tough action against serious criminal activity and those evading and avoiding paying tax.

It is right that HMRC does everything possible to protect?individuals,?businesses and the economy during this extremely difficult time.

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